MML Investors Services LLC Sells 1,515 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 80.8% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CNP. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $32.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $20.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $33.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.46.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.28%.

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.