CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 226,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,512 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $8,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,449,927 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,774,941,000 after buying an additional 334,631 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,645,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,480,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,169 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,446,036,000 after buying an additional 27,799,744 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,490,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $490,205,000 after buying an additional 406,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,880,015 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $186,573,000 after purchasing an additional 431,260 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. Argus upgraded CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.10. 2,026,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,668,716. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $39.31. The firm has a market cap of $23.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's fifty day moving average is $36.94 and its 200 day moving average is $35.14.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 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.