CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,180 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $5,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $27.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $31.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.10 and a 200-day moving average of $28.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.73.

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.