CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 443,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.07% of CenterPoint Energy worth $14,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP opened at $32.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.00. The stock has a market cap of $21.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 55.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CNP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

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.