Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 53.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,352 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 204,459 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $6,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 13,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,167 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of CNP traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,983,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,658,411. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $39.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.00. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.58.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.04.

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.