GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases Shares of 6,694 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $187,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $80,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $28.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.01. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.42 and a 12-month high of $31.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.18.

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.