MML Investors Services LLC Trims Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,182,000. Zimmer Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,536,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,208,000 after buying an additional 760,956 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 135.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 586,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,255,000 after acquiring an additional 336,984 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $350,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at $1,412,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP opened at $32.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.46. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $33.00.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 58.28%.

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.