BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Raises Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 52.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,993 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Tobam purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CenterPoint Energy

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

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.25. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.42 and a 52-week high of $31.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 56.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CNP shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Barclays upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.