CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Purchased by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,231,000 after purchasing an additional 370,790 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.2% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,387,000 after purchasing an additional 247,944 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,116,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,619,000 after purchasing an additional 160,154 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the third 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, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $97,348,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 2.6 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $35.52 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.18. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $35.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. Equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.77.

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.