J.Safra Asset Management Corp Invests $28,000 in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in 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 period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in 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 period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $52,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE CNP opened at $33.87 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.75. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $34.85. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

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.