Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 2,789 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 143,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $4,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd 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 period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $31.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $20.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.80 and a 200-day moving average of $29.46. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $33.00.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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 last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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 $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.27.

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.