Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 38,292 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 106.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,108 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 38,292 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,381,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,298 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.5%

CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.54. 5,359,132 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,667,364. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.00. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $39.31.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 9.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 59.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. 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 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.