Czech National Bank Grows Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Czech National Bank lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,306 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,544 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $4,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.80. 4,988,056 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,031,176. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $31.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. 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 the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. 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%.

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.