Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Has $1.57 Million Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 430 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,104,000 after buying an additional 42,578 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth $908,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth $2,564,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,863,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CNP shares. UBS Group upgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on 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. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $34.38 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $34.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.59. The stock has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.35%.

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.