CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Shares Bought by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 197,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,276,000 after buying an additional 22,347 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 275,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,757,000 after buying an additional 14,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $33.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.06. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.85.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 58.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.46.

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.