Aspire Private Capital LLC Buys 674 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

CNP stock opened at $33.09 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $33.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 58.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.