CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $33.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.75. The company has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $34.85.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.65.

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.