PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,518 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $705,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3,469,900.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 34,699 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $31.93 on Monday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $32.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CNP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. KeyCorp lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.