CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 515,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 244,403 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $15,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 185.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 235,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,287,000 after acquiring an additional 152,878 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $1,625,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 305,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,735,000 after purchasing an additional 60,223 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 837.7% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 210,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,985,000 after purchasing an additional 187,662 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,109,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CNP. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.55.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CNP opened at $29.89 on Wednesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $31.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.15%.

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.