Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $10.45 Million in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 329,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,453,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.05% of CenterPoint Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNP. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 1,350 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 54,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,721,000 after buying an additional 6,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 116,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,706,000 after acquiring an additional 10,800 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CNP traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $37.37. 944,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,617,690. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $37.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.40. 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 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.31.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 59.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNP. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Argus upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.