Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Acquires 247,944 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 247,944 shares during the quarter. CenterPoint Energy makes up about 1.7% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 0.77% of CenterPoint Energy worth $147,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.58.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP traded down $0.30 on Monday, reaching $31.37. 3,582,641 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,283,453. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $33.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.46 and a 200-day moving average of $29.33. The company has a market capitalization of $20.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.96.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.