Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 616 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 616 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,104,000 after acquiring an additional 42,578 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $908,000. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,564,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.65.

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.