Oak Thistle LLC Lowers Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Oak Thistle LLC decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 74.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,989 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of CNP traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,319,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,148,250. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $33.00. The stock has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95. The company's 50 day moving average is $31.68 and its 200 day moving average is $29.61.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.27.

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.