CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. decreased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,097,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,975 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $31,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

CNP opened at $29.10 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $31.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.69.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNP. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.55.

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.