CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Acquired by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,489,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 312,518 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.54% of CenterPoint Energy worth $110,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,707,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,208,504. The stock has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $39.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $37.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.18.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS 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 net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

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.