CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Holdings Lifted by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 24.7%, acquiring an additional 19,908 shares, bringing its total holdings to 100,485 shares valued at approximately $3.64 million.
• Wall Street analysts have shown mixed sentiment towards CenterPoint Energy, with target prices ranging from $34.00 to $42.00 and an average rating of "Hold" with a price target of $37.38.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $0.88 and a yield of 2.3%, with a payout ratio currently at 61.54%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 24.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,908 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 13,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CNP. Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.71.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $37.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,246,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,455,346. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.32 and a 12 month high of $39.39. The company has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day moving average is $37.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.740-1.760 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.