Commerce Bank Acquires 1,760 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 152,878 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted 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 worth $2,442,000 after buying an additional 12,422 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,052,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,630,000 after acquiring an additional 124,529 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,564,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

CNP stock opened at $31.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 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 $32.34. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.17.

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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CNP. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

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.