International Assets Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 54.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNP. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 76,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 10,277 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 69,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,821 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 55,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 15,922 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CNP shares. KeyCorp upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.82.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $38.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.50. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.76 and a 12 month high of $40.50.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at $2,546,354.91. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.