Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Buys 54,476 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,402,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 54,476 shares during the quarter. CenterPoint Energy makes up approximately 1.9% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.86% of CenterPoint Energy worth $154,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 52,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,954 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.14. 7,377,785 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,263,375. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.42 and a twelve month high of $31.43. The firm has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $28.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 10.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.82%.

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.