GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 525,397 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 4,585.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 536,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 525,397 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.08% of CenterPoint Energy worth $19,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,449,927 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,774,941,000 after acquiring an additional 334,631 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,645,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,480,060,000 after buying an additional 1,922,169 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,446,036,000 after buying an additional 27,799,744 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,490,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $490,205,000 after purchasing an additional 406,832 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,880,015 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $186,573,000 after acquiring an additional 431,260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. 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 MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.7%

CNP traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.59. 5,540,950 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,660,339. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $37.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $39.31.

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). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is 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.