Vident Advisory LLC Buys 2,658 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,658 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $254,000. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 54,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $37.59 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.14. The company has a market capitalization of $24.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNP. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.04.

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.