CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Purchased by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 79.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 46,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth about $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,895,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,370,666. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $31.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50-day moving average price is $28.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.98.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 2.87%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.09.

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.