Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 7,915 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,915 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CNP. Barclays lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP opened at $33.79 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.20 and a 200 day moving average of $30.17. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $34.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.