CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by abrdn plc

abrdn plc lowered its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 27.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,098,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 414,608 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $32,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,531,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,640,000 after acquiring an additional 10,190 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 97,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 155,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $29.26 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $31.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.98. The company has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.87%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 59.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.09.

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.