UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Boosts Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,687,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 335,768 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd owned 0.26% of CenterPoint Energy worth $65,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 23.3% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 171,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,636,000 after purchasing an additional 32,344 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 350,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,611,000 after purchasing an additional 83,127 shares during the period. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $19,274,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,885,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at about $937,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.82.

Insider Activity at CenterPoint Energy

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $38.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $40.50.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.70%.

CenterPoint Energy Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.