CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 17.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,465,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,393,793 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.99% of CenterPoint Energy worth $250,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CNP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 23.3% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 171,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,636,000 after buying an additional 32,344 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 31.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 350,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,611,000 after acquiring an additional 83,127 shares during the last quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $19,274,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,885,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $937,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at $2,546,354.91. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CNP. KeyCorp upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.82.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $38.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.51. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.76 and a twelve month high of $40.50.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid 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 is currently 55.70%.

CenterPoint Energy 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.