R Squared Ltd Buys New Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd has acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, purchasing 18,004 shares valued at approximately $661,000 in the 2nd quarter.
• CenterPoint Energy reported quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenues were $1.99 billion, falling short of forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%, with the payment date set for December 11th for stockholders of record by November 20th.

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $661,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 5.5% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $39.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.57. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.57 and a 1-year high of $40.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.51 and a 200-day moving average of $37.64.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%.The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.95.

CenterPoint Energy 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.

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