CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 355,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $10,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484,079 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,043,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,275,000 after acquiring an additional 53,655 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,398,000 after acquiring an additional 110,905 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,177,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,478,000 after acquiring an additional 65,139 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,611,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,914,000 after acquiring an additional 200,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.58.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $32.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.29. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $33.00. The company has a market capitalization of $21.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.96.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.63%.

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.