Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 84.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 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 quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:CNP opened at $35.72 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.70. 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 $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.59.

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

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.

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