Caxton Associates LP Purchases New Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 117,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,712,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CNP. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.79.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE CNP traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.96. The company had a trading volume of 5,257,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,562,531. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $39.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The firm's 50 day moving average is $36.44 and its 200-day moving average is $33.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.