Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Boosts Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 371.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,945 shares during the quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 73.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CenterPoint Energy

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.80.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

CNP opened at $31.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.06. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.42 and a one year high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

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.