Bank of Montreal Can Sells 101,483 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 941,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 101,483 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $34,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $416,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 714,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,894,000 after buying an additional 19,561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $38.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.81. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.04 and a 12-month high of $40.50. The company has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.50.

CenterPoint Energy 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.