Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Takes $1.89 Million Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 51,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 9,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted 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. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.50.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $39.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.83. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.21 and a 52 week high of $40.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.