ClearBridge Investments Ltd Sells 57,771 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd decreased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,703,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 57,771 shares during the period. CenterPoint Energy accounts for about 1.5% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $52,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,052,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,630,000 after acquiring an additional 124,529 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 108,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,358,000 after buying an additional 36,868 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 20.0% during the second quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 177,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after acquiring an additional 4,488 shares during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 49.9% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 35,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 11,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $28.17 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.47 and its 200 day moving average is $28.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $31.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 56.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.36.

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.