International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 500,425 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1,391.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 536,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 500,425 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of CenterPoint Energy worth $157,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 185.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 235,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 152,878 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth $1,625,000. Duality Advisers LP raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 837.7% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 210,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,985,000 after purchasing an additional 187,662 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth $1,109,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 86.4% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,413,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,282,000 after purchasing an additional 655,327 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.91.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.15%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.