CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 12.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,001,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 144,530 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $36,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $313,456,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth $92,025,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at $78,632,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 31.6% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,859,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $288,765,000 after buying an additional 1,886,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2,845.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,938,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,222,000 after buying an additional 1,872,429 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $38.06 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.