Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Makes New $215,000 Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:CNP opened at $34.32 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $34.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. As a group, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNP. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.65.

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.