CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC lessened its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 74.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,989 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNP. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $144,570,000 after buying an additional 1,484,079 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 566.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,744,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482,966 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,188,000. Teilinger Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at about $26,478,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 98.1% in the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,536,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,208,000 after purchasing an additional 760,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $32.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $33.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 58.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.27.

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.