Wexford Capital LP Invests $1.41 Million in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 47,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,412,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CNP traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.66. 2,842,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,293,917. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $33.00.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.58.

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.