CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,314,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 569,389 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.36% of CenterPoint Energy worth $73,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 80,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,104,000 after purchasing an additional 42,578 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,930,000 after buying an additional 56,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.79.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $37.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.51 and a 200-day moving average of $33.51. The firm has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.31.

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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. 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.

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