Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 25,834 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 25,834 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 82,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,032,000 after purchasing an additional 13,908 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth about $147,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 6.7% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $712,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 56.7% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 9,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CenterPoint Energy

In other news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CNP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price target on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.64.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $37.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.56. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.59 and a 52-week high of $40.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.10.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.70%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.