CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Stock Holdings Reduced by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,591 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America started 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.09.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $30.39 on Monday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $31.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. 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 payout ratio is 52.98%.

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.