CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 85,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,449,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,941,000 after acquiring an additional 334,631 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,645,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,480,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,169 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,446,036,000 after purchasing an additional 27,799,744 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,490,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,205,000 after purchasing an additional 406,832 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,880,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $186,573,000 after buying an additional 431,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.6%

CNP stock opened at $37.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.88. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.04.

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.