Fiduciary Family Office LLC Takes Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• Fiduciary Family Office LLC has purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy valued at approximately $1.14 million, acquiring 31,422 shares during the first quarter.
• CenterPoint Energy reported a miss in quarterly earnings with a net EPS of $0.29, which was lower than the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.44.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 21st.

Fiduciary Family Office LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 31,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 63.2% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 797,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,876,000 after purchasing an additional 308,631 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.0% in the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 100,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 10.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,164,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,195,000 after purchasing an additional 108,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 582,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 10,225 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. 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.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.38.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:CNP traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $38.58. The company had a trading volume of 5,527,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,887,372. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.12. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 9.16%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 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.