CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,850 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 52,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 4.2% during the third quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP opened at $29.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.43. The stock has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 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 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.18.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.