Forsta AP Fonden Grows Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 106,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,531,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,640,000 after acquiring an additional 10,190 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 569,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,232,000 after purchasing an additional 21,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 587,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,203,000 after purchasing an additional 8,624 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $29.43 on Wednesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $31.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.98.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.09.

CenterPoint Energy 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.