ClearBridge Investments Ltd Decreases Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd lowered its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,947,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 240,056 shares during the period. CenterPoint Energy accounts for approximately 1.6% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. ClearBridge Investments Ltd owned 0.30% of CenterPoint Energy worth $61,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $36.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $36.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.73.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. Sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.77.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.