CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Position Lowered by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,481,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,323 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $74,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth about $440,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 59.0% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 14,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 5,475 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 9.0% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 32,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,642 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 59.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 738,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,615,000 after acquiring an additional 274,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth about $414,000. Institutional investors own 90.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CenterPoint Energy

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

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $28.62 on Thursday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.03 and a 12 month high of $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.72.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 9.97%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target 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 initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.75.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

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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.