CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,618 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $4,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 55,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 250,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,728,000 after buying an additional 5,879 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 286.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 236,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,219,000 after acquiring an additional 175,021 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 210,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,641,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 2,591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.42 and a 1-year high of $31.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.11.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.34%.

Insider Activity

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNP. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.18.

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.