CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Purchased by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,254,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,634 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $46,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth $254,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 11.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at about $218,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 17.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 10.5% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 73,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 6,972 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $39.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.90. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.97 and a 1-year high of $40.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CenterPoint Energy

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

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.