Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $37.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.51. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.31.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.79.

CenterPoint Energy 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.