Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,195 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $7,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Motco raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 107.8% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $39.60 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.59 and a 52 week high of $40.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.12 and a 200-day moving average of $37.93.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.