Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Increases Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 371.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,945 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $31.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.46 and a 200 day moving average of $28.66. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.80.

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.