Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $97.35 Million Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,067,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $97,348,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 175,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,220,000 after purchasing an additional 6,597 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 56,037 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 219,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,469,000 after purchasing an additional 33,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $34.26 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $34.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.72 and a 200-day moving average of $30.88. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.65.

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.