Boston Partners Reduces Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Boston Partners reduced its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,310,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,657,250 shares during the period. CenterPoint Energy makes up about 0.8% of Boston Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Boston Partners owned approximately 3.27% of CenterPoint Energy worth $676,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNP. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI raised CenterPoint Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.77.

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CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CNP traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $35.77. 8,615,283 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,200,983. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.42. The firm has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $36.19.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.