CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Purchased by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 566.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,744,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,482,966 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of CenterPoint Energy worth $51,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 459.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CNP. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.58.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CNP traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $32.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,159,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,299,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $33.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.29.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

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.