Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 22,347 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,347 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $6,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 275,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,757,000 after buying an additional 14,114 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 71,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE CNP opened at $33.45 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.13. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

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 is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.63%.

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.