Dean Capital Management Buys 7,666 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,666 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CNP traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $30.43. 3,574,510 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,388,650. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.42 and a one year high of $31.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.25.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CNP. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.80.

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.