CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,111,777 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,302 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.48% of CenterPoint Energy worth $98,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 143,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,930,000 after acquiring an additional 56,037 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 13,356 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.75. The stock had a trading volume of 882,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,558,428. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. 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 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $39.01. The stock's fifty day moving average is $35.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.13.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during 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 previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CNP. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Argus raised CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.79.

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.