CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Position Increased by UBS Group AG

UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Get Rating) by 54.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 107,144 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $9,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNP. Texas Permanent School Fund lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 89,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,682,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 131,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 112,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 40,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 90.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $28.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.75. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.03 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.88.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 9.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 60.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Ted Pound sold 2,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total transaction of $84,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,500.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.51, for a total value of $152,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,998.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ted Pound sold 2,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total transaction of $84,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,500.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.75.

About CenterPoint Energy

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CenterPoint Energy, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the business of power generation and distribution. It operates through the following segments: CenterPoint Energy, Houston Electric, and CERC. The CenterPoint Energy segment consists of electric transmission and distribution services in the Texas gulf coast area in the ERCOT region and electric transmission and distribution services primarily to southwestern Indiana and includes power generation and wholesale power operations in the MISO region.