Mackenzie Financial Corp Boosts Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 12.4%, owning 67,114 shares valued at $2.432 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have also adjusted their holdings, with Private Trust Co. NA raising its position by 21.5% in the first quarter.
• CenterPoint Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.3%, with the ex-dividend date on August 21st.

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,384 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $2,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNP. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 107.8% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho set a $39.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.38.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.80. 1,735,444 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,332,614. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $39.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $36.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.92. The firm has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.15). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

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.