Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Buys 15,084 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 50.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,084 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $37.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.76. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $37.70.

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

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CNP. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus raised CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.04.

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.