CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 422,228 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 21,200 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.06% of CenterPoint Energy worth $15,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth $254,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 197,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,276,000 after buying an additional 22,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CNP traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.72. 4,914,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,281,284. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.31. The stock has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.59.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 was Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.06%.

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.