First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $365,000 Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 65.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,041 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 302.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 159,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,565,000 after acquiring an additional 120,085 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,209,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,559,000 after buying an additional 256,820 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $399,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,540,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,361,000 after acquiring an additional 420,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 416,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,912,000 after acquiring an additional 102,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $29.32 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.42 and a 52 week high of $31.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.09.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy 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.