Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $1.11 Million Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNP. Guggenheim lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $33.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.15 and a 200-day moving average of $30.13. 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.85.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.