Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 57.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,571 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $1,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP opened at $37.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $37.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.49.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.46.

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.