CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Purchased by Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,653 shares during the quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 52,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 76,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $143,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on 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 lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.09.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $31.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $31.81. The company has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 52.98%.

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.