8,356 Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Purchased by Custom Index Systems LLC

Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,356 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,159,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,957,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $33.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $32.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.87.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.46.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.