Edgestream Partners L.P. Buys New Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 57,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $34.37 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $35.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.96.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNP. Barclays lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.65.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.