Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Buys 14,114 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,114 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $8,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $32.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $33.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.46.

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.