Creative Planning Reduces Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Creative Planning cut its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,461 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $29.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.20. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $31.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 59.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.91.

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.