Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 157,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,040 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $5,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CNP opened at $32.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.70.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.38.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.