Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 50.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 15,084 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.06. 743,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,572,004. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $39.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company's fifty day moving average price is $35.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.99.

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

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One equities 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.79.

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.