Blue Trust Inc. Sells 609 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,195,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after buying an additional 17,787 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 7,538 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1,391.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 536,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,800,000 after buying an additional 500,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 226,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,660,000 after buying an additional 4,139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $33.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.22. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $34.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.