CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Stock Position Reduced by Cromwell Holdings LLC

Cromwell Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth about $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth about $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $29.31 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $31.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.91.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.