Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Boosts Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,017 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 80,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after buying an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,104,000 after buying an additional 42,578 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,314,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,427,000 after buying an additional 569,389 shares during the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $265,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 12,563 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.77.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 59.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CNP. Barclays raised CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.