Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 1,751 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 26.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 472.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. Argus upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.21.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:CNP opened at $38.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $39.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.63.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.06%.

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.