19,422 Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 19,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 80,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after buying an additional 2,283 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,104,000 after acquiring an additional 42,578 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,563 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 56,037 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

CNP stock opened at $36.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $36.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.88.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.