Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 1,396 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 52,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.0% in the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CNP traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.45. 3,650,927 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,725,417. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.42 and a 12 month high of $31.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.18 and a 200 day moving average of $28.07.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS 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 given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.34%.

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.