Lavaca Capital LLC Takes $2.06 Million Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Lavaca Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 70,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,059,000. CenterPoint Energy accounts for approximately 0.9% of Lavaca Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNP. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $144,570,000 after buying an additional 1,484,079 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,043,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $125,275,000 after acquiring an additional 53,655 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,432 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $116,398,000 after purchasing an additional 110,905 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,177,364 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,478,000 after purchasing an additional 65,139 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,611,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,914,000 after buying an additional 200,693 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.62. 1,847,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,826,269. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. 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 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $32.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.14 and a 200-day moving average of $29.27.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 positive change 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 2.58%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is 55.63%.

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.