Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Reduces Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,605,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 404,190 shares during the quarter. CenterPoint Energy makes up about 1.7% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.71% of CenterPoint Energy worth $146,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $158,232,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1,431.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,408,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185,932 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $97,348,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 566.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,744,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,330,000 after buying an additional 1,482,966 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 98.1% in the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,536,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,208,000 after buying an additional 760,956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $35.67 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.64. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $36.19. The company has a market capitalization 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.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.77.

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.