Swiss National Bank Sells 56,000 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Swiss National Bank cut its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,973,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 56,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $56,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 5,041 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 723,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,680,000 after buying an additional 130,749 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,402,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,354,000 after buying an additional 54,476 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

CNP opened at $29.45 on Monday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.42 and a fifty-two week high of $31.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.18 and its 200 day moving average is $28.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.18.

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.