CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Stake Trimmed by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 937,355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 64,599 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.14% of CenterPoint Energy worth $36,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,362,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,989,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,710,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $611,377,000 after purchasing an additional 652,202 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $313,456,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 31.6% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,859,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $288,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,556,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,153,000 after buying an additional 49,781 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:CNP opened at $39.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.51. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.95 and a 52 week high of $40.50.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.82.

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.