CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Holdings Raised by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,344 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $6,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $71,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE CNP opened at $37.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.11. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $30.59 and a one year high of $40.50. The firm has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 55.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CNP. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.64.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.