Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $16.54 Million Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 578,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,946 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $16,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their price target 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 raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.56. The company had a trading volume of 2,140,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,264,050. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.06. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.43. The company has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.09.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $166,811.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.