Aberdeen Group plc Sells 93,638 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,434,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 93,638 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.22% of CenterPoint Energy worth $56,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $313,456,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted 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 worth $288,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,374 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,609,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,135,000 after buying an additional 1,568,714 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,362,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,989,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301,374 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 15.4% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 7,220,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,146,000 after purchasing an additional 962,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CNP. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven 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 Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of CNP stock opened at $42.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.24 and a 12-month high of $42.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.95 and its 200 day moving average is $38.86.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

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.