CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 206,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,896 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $6,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $38.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.03. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $38.42.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.79.

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.