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

Commerce Bank trimmed its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 74,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,386 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNP. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on CNP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $36.48 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $37.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.70. The company has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.35%.

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.