Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,728 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,750,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,958,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,640 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 391.0% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,314,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,333 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,030,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stack Financial Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,154,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of CNP opened at $30.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.88. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.42 and a 12-month high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNP. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Insider Transactions at CenterPoint Energy

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.