Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Grows Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,114 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $8,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $32.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $33.12. 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 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.