Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,441,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,981 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of CenterPoint Energy worth $42,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 185.7% in 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. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 86.4% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,413,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,282,000 after buying an additional 655,327 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 675,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,894,000 after buying an additional 56,221 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 487.8% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 40,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,140,000 after buying an additional 33,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 18.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 78,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 12,422 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 2.9 %

CNP stock opened at $30.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $31.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.09.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CNP shares. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.09.

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.