CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC lessened its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,289 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNP. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,054 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,178,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

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CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,122,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,309,089. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.59. 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 $22.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $34.49.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a boost from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.65.

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.