Greenleaf Trust Raises Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 669 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $741,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $32.15 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $33.12.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.