Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,663 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.9 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $32.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $32.86. The stock has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.27.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

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.