Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $72,000 Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

CNP opened at $29.02 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase 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 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 52.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.09.

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.