Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Increases Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 128.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 44,159 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at $26,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 137.5% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.96% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of CNP stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $27.52. 298,925 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,069,174. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.49 and a 200 day moving average of $28.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.52. The firm has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 64.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David J. Lesar acquired 37,000 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.12 per share, with a total value of $1,003,440.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,440. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other CenterPoint Energy news, COO Jason P. Wells purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.91 per share, with a total value of $269,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,119.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David J. Lesar acquired 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,003,440. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. TheStreet cut CenterPoint Energy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Mizuho cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.10.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric and Natural Gas segments. 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.