Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 230,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,103 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $6,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $144,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484,079 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,043,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,275,000 after purchasing an additional 53,655 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,398,000 after purchasing an additional 110,905 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,177,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,478,000 after purchasing an additional 65,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,611,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,914,000 after purchasing an additional 200,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $31.95 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $33.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.41. 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 stock 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 (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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change 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 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.27.

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.