Bridgewater Associates LP Takes $7.06 Million Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 240,033 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,062,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $32.62. 1,847,083 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,332,857. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.27. The company has a market cap of $21.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $32.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.63%.

CenterPoint Energy 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.