CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Short Interest Down 5.7% in October

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,960,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the October 15th total of 12,680,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David J. Lesar purchased 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,440.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,440. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other CenterPoint Energy news, CEO David J. Lesar bought 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.12 per share, with a total value of $1,003,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,440. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jason P. Wells bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.91 per share, for a total transaction of $269,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,119.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at $26,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 137.5% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 176.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 117.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 88.96% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CNP opened at $27.80 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.52. The stock has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.51 and a 200-day moving average of $28.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.78.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.20.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric and Natural Gas segments. 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.