J.Safra Asset Management Corp Makes New Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $33.87 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.75. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $34.85. The firm has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 55.35%.

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.