CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Position Boosted by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,030,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,948 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,952,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,077,000 after purchasing an additional 46,232 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,402,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,354,000 after purchasing an additional 54,476 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,958,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,666,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,990,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,001,000 after acquiring an additional 723,663 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $28.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.42 and a 1-year high of $31.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.88.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.60.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.