Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

by · The Markets Daily

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Free Report) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 250,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,879 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $6,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.7% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,900,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,028,000 after buying an additional 135,900 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 84,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.7% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 55,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 2,995 shares in the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $765,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. 88.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CenterPoint Energy news, COO Jason P. Wells purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.91 per share, with a total value of $269,100.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,119.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Jason P. Wells bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.91 per share, with a total value of $269,100.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,119.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David J. Lesar bought 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,440.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,440. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 52,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,413,040 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.25 on Thursday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.42 and a 52 week high of $31.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.41. The firm has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 14th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.70.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CNP

About CenterPoint Energy

(Free Report)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric and Natural Gas segments. 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.

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