Verition Fund Management LLC Has $14.05 Million Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Verition Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 29.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 477,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 198,556 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $14,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $32.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $32.86.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.63%.

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.