Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Invests $13.26 Million in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 417,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,258,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC owned approximately 0.06% of CenterPoint Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,167 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,740 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus raised CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.79.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CNP traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,246,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,559,963. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.13. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $39.01.

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

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.06%.

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.