Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $147.52 Million Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,761,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 391,063 shares during the period. CenterPoint Energy accounts for approximately 1.9% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $147,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in 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. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.49 and its 200 day moving average is $28.70. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.55.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.