Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 2,004 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNP. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNP shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Argus raised CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays raised CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $36.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.57. The firm has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.31.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.