Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Makes New Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 459.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $31.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $33.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.41.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNP has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.