Savant Capital LLC Buys Shares of 7,942 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CNP shares. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $33.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.17. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $34.09.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.

CenterPoint Energy 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.