Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 53,846 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,502,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 53,846 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.84% of CenterPoint Energy worth $213,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 636,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,710,000 after buying an additional 16,958 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 59,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 96.8% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.45.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $39.75 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.76 and a 1 year high of $40.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.71 and a 200 day moving average of $38.43. The stock has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 55.70%.

CenterPoint Energy Profile

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.