Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. during the 1st quarter, purchasing 36,354 shares valued at approximately $1,317,000.
• CenterPoint Energy reported disappointing quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $0.29, missing the estimate of $0.44, and revenue of $1.94 billion compared to the expected $2.20 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share will be paid to shareholders on September 11th, yielding an annualized return of 2.3% with a payout ratio of 61.54%.

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 36,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,317,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 17.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 13,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.45. 3,438,907 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,298,739. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.15. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $39.39.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.38.

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.