Eastern Bank Makes New Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $29.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.94. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 59.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNP. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.91.

CenterPoint Energy 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.