Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 274,195 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 84.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 274,195 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,446,036,000 after purchasing an additional 27,799,744 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $164,350,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $158,232,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1,431.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,408,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $108,153,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185,932 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $97,348,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of CNP traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $35.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,127,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,634,665. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $37.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.77. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued 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). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CNP shares. Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus upgraded CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.04.

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.