Prudential Financial Inc. Has $11.07 Million Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 348,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 49,392 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $11,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1,158.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $68,000. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,062,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 124,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,653,000 after acquiring an additional 4,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 113,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE CNP opened at $36.26 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $36.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. As a group, analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CNP. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.77.

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.