Voleon Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 58,278 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 58,278 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,849,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CNP traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $39.05. 462,210 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,545,495. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.18. The company's 50-day moving average price is $36.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.29.

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

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is 59.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNP. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.79.

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.