30,668 Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Purchased by Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 30,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE CNP opened at $27.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.20. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $31.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.66.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th 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 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.73.

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.