New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,603 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 107.8% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $38.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.76. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.57 and a 12-month high of $40.50.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CNP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.