Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 2,371,636 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,929,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,371,636 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $315,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1,158.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at about $68,000. Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,062,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 124,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,653,000 after acquiring an additional 4,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 113,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock opened at $35.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.64. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $36.19. The stock has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. 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 objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.77.

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.