Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $14.76 Million Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 553.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 380,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 322,163 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $14,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNP. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $29,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CenterPoint Energy

In other news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of CenterPoint Energy 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNP. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.82.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.3%

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $38.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.67 and its 200-day moving average is $38.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $40.50.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

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