Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,849 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,849 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 176,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,456,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $32.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.18. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $32.61.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

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.