Eastern Bank Acquires 1,000 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $31.84 on Wednesday. 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 50-day moving average of $31.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.56. The stock has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.00.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 objective for the company. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.