Osaic Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 20.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,908 shares during the quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 130.3% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 22,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $1,885,000. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $19,274,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $313,456,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $937,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.64.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $38.28 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.56.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.