LPL Financial LLC Acquires 89,958 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 57.3% in Q1, owning 247,010 shares valued at approximately $8.95 million.
• CenterPoint Energy's stock is currently rated as a "Hold" by analysts with a consensus price target of $37.38, following recent adjustments from various analysts.
• The company reported a Q2 EPS of $0.29, missing estimates, with revenue of $1.94 billion against expectations of $2.20 billion.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 57.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 89,958 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $8,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Motco grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 107.8% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho set a $39.00 target price on CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.38.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.46. The company had a trading volume of 4,187,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,910,274. The company has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.13. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.39.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.15). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.