CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Holdings Boosted by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,462 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $38.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.57. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.57 and a 1 year high of $40.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

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.