72,894 Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Acquired by Soros Fund Management LLC

Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 72,894 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,145,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 459.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.81. 622,087 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,281,142. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.41 and a 200 day moving average of $29.33. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.96.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 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.