Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 6,084 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,084 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth 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 purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $36.59 on Monday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 59.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CNP. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.04.

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.