Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 25,834 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 36.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 25,834 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth about $313,456,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,859,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,374 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2,845.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,938,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872,429 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,609,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,362,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,989,256,000 after buying an additional 1,301,374 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CNP opened at $37.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.59 and a 1-year high of $40.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.07 and a 200 day moving average of $38.10.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.