Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $252,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 235.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,655 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,195,135 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 17,787 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 13,170 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.
CenterPoint Energy Price Performance
Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.32. 6,019,434 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,175,896. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's fifty day moving average is $32.29 and its 200-day moving average is $30.22. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $34.39.
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Research analysts expect 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, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded 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. Barclays upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.46.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CNP
CenterPoint Energy Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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