6,734 Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Purchased by Cigna Investments Inc. New

Cigna Investments Inc. New acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. Morgan Stanley lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $30.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.73.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,142,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,163,833. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.15 and its 200 day moving average is $28.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.20. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $31.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

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.