CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 636,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,958 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $24,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $29,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $30,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $61,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CenterPoint Energy

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNP. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.45.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $39.75 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.76 and a 1 year high of $40.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.51.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.23%.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.