Xponance Inc. Increases Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 91,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CNP. Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target 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 began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.77.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP opened at $35.77 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.49 and its 200-day moving average is $31.42. The stock has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $36.19.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. On average, analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.