CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Acquired by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 1,979.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 166,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 158,729 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $5,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.79.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.53. The company had a trading volume of 6,163,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,568,920. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $39.31. The company has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $36.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.48.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.06%.

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.