Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 36,302 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,111,777 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,302 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.48% of CenterPoint Energy worth $98,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,167 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,740 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $38.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $35.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.93. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $38.33.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 55.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.46.

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.

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