Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 370,790 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 370,790 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.31% of CenterPoint Energy worth $442,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Railway Pension Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at $63,758,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $144,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484,079 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 566.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,744,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482,966 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,188,000. Finally, Teilinger Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $26,478,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.94. 4,760,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,268,520. The stock has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. The business's fifty day moving average is $30.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.41. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.00. 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 (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is 55.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on CNP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.27.

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.