Millennium Management LLC Sells 621,506 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Millennium Management LLC cut its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 90.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 621,506 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE CNP opened at $37.28 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.33. 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 $24.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.