DnB Asset Management AS Boosts Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,015 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS owned approximately 0.05% of CenterPoint Energy worth $10,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1,158.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth about $7,062,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 124,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,653,000 after acquiring an additional 4,663 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 113,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,177,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,478,000 after purchasing an additional 65,139 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.77.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

CNP opened at $36.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $36.40.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.