Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 195,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,211 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $5,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 185.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 235,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,287,000 after buying an additional 152,878 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 459.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 110.2% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $42,548,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $31.95 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.96.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.27.

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.