Shell Asset Management Co. Raises Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNP. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 13,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 19,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.79.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $37.59 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.80. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $39.31. The firm has a market cap of $24.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 59.06%.

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.