Fisher Funds Management LTD Makes New $4.76 Million Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 150,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,764,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNP. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 235.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 3,655 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 56.8% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 7,538 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 114.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 504,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,848,000 after purchasing an additional 269,475 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 36,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE CNP opened at $34.32 on Monday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $34.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.35. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

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.