CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Acquired by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,299 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNP. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 21,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 235.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 3,655 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,195,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after buying an additional 17,787 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 15.1% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 13,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 10.0% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $33.45 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.06.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.46.

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.