Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Takes Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $32.55 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.80. The company has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $33.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.46.

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.