Wealthspire Advisors LLC Lowers Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNP shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

CNP stock opened at $33.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $34.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.50.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.35%.

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.