Eastern Bank Grows Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Eastern Bank increased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $31.84 on Wednesday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $33.00. The firm has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 58.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average 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.