TIAA Trust National Association Makes New $250,000 Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• TIAA Trust National Association acquired 6,890 shares in CenterPoint Energy, valued at approximately $250,000, in the first quarter of the year.
• CenterPoint Energy reported $0.29 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate by $0.15, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.22 to be paid in September.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for the stock, with an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.38, alongside recent price target increases from various firms.

TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 6,890 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,446,036,000 after buying an additional 27,799,744 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $164,350,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,645,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,480,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,169 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $59,702,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $46,281,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CNP shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho set a $39.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.38.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.83. 3,475,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,931,592. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $36.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.02. The company has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $39.39.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

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.