CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Purchased by Osaic Holdings Inc.

Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 20.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 82,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,908 shares during the quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $61,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $71,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:CNP opened at $38.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.56. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $30.59 and a one year 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.13.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.