Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Sells 127,317 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

by · The Markets Daily

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd decreased its stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Free Report) by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 127,317 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP stock traded down $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $29.51. 697,571 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,373,159. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.37 and a 200 day moving average of $28.93. The stock has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 59.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Read Our Latest Report on CNP

CenterPoint Energy Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading