Linscomb Wealth Inc. Buys Shares of 16,915 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• Linscomb Wealth Inc. invested approximately $613,000 in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. by acquiring 16,915 shares during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in CenterPoint Energy, with significant growth from Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. by 32.6% in the fourth quarter.
• Analysts have raised price targets for CenterPoint Energy, with a consensus average target price of $37.38 and an overall average rating of "Hold."

Linscomb Wealth Inc. bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $25,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $38.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,438,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,298,758. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $39.39. The company has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 61.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho set a $39.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.38.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.