Fulton Bank N.A. Boosts Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth about $2,564,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $908,000. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 13.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,052,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,630,000 after purchasing an additional 124,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $705,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP opened at $31.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.57. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $33.00.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CNP shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

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.