Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 95,279 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,452,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $254,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 13,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,810 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 19,731 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,563 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 637,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,644,371. 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 company has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.57. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $39.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.15.

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

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNP. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Argus upgraded CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.04.

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.