Bessemer Group Inc. Has $2.29 Million Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 38.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,762 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,381,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,158,492,000 after acquiring an additional 719,803 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 58,286,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,234,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,794,535 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $802,916,000 after purchasing an additional 235,346 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,023,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $650,189,000 after purchasing an additional 166,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,925,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 2.3%

CNP stock opened at $43.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.46. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.59 and a fifty-two week high of $45.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.06 and a 200-day moving average of $42.24.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.46.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.