Panagora Asset Management Inc. Buys 14,351 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)
Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Free Report) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,351 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock. Insider Activity at CenterPoint Energy In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.18. View Our Latest Report on CenterPoint Energy CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.5 % NYSE CNP opened at $30.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.42 and a fifty-two week high of $31.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.25. CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year. CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 56.34%. About CenterPoint Energy (Free Report) 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.
