CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 838,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,344 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $26,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings 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 worth $44,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $34.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.31. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $34.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 55.35%.

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.