CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has received a boost from Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd., which increased its position in the utilities provider by 11.2%. According to the company’s most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 80,662 shares of CenterPoint Energy’s stock, worth $2,419,000.
This news announcement comes on the heels of CenterPoint Energy’s recently declared quarterly dividend. Investors will receive a dividend of $0.19 per share on Thursday, June 8th, and investors of record as of May 18th will be eligible for this dividend payout. The annualized dividend-pay-out ratio currently stands at 60.32%, which underlines CNP’s commitment to returning value to its shareholders.
The market sentiment towards CenterPoint Energy is bullish: it has been subjected to multiple analyst reports extolling its growth potential that reaffirm its status as a “Moderate Buy.” In particular, Morgan Stanley has given the company an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for CNP from $28.00 to $30.00 in one such research report.
Another fatly-employed analyst is Royal Bank of Canada: it has issued an “outperform” rating on CNP and assigned a price objective of $33.00 on shares of CenterPoint Energy in another report released recently.
Bank of America also showered praise upon CNP by raising their price objective from $30 to $35 whilst simultaneously giving the stock a “buy” rating in one further report issued by them on CenterrPoint energy Ind.’s vibrant growth prospects.
Despite StockNews.com lowering BP’s ‘hold’ Rating it still remains that CNP presents a highly lucrative opportunity for both institutional and retail investors alike who are looking both for steady returns through dividends and long-term capital appreciation opportunities. The combination of steady growth and a robust business model positions CNP optimally for future success.
Institutional Investors Raise Stakes in CenterPoint Energy, Boosting Company Value
CenterPoint Energy Increases in Value As Institutional Investors Raise Stakes
CenterPoint Energy, a Texas-based utilities provider, has received some positive news in recent weeks as institutional investors have shown renewed confidence in the company by raising their stakes. Most notably, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 30.2% during the third quarter. Following this purchase, the fund now owns 1,436,671 shares worth $40,485,000.
Other firms that recently added to or reduced their positions include Securian Asset Management Inc., Rockefeller Capital Management L.P., UBS Asset Management Americas Inc., and Simmons Bank. Combined together, they contribute to 90.28% of CenterPoint Energy’s outstanding stock ownership.
Despite this good news for CenterPoint Energy’s shareholders, some directors have also been selling off portions of their holdings in the company. Barry T Smitherman sold 5,000 shares at an average price of $30.51 on May 8th; while Ted Pound sold 2,770 shares at $30.50 per share three days earlier.
These insider sales may give some pause for thought but are not necessarily indicative of underlying company problems; indeed management has approved a quarterly dividend payment set for Thursday June 8th which will pay out $0.19 per share with an annualized dividend yield of 2.69%.
According to Yahoo Finance data CenterPoint Energy Inc.’s stock opened Friday at $28.26 which is higher than its current year low point ($25.03) but below its high-point value of $33.50 reached within the past year.
Looking ahead to future earnings reports for CenterPoint Energy: data from analysts compiled by NASDAQ suggests they predict that the utility provider will post earnings-per-share (EPS) results for the present financial year ending December 2017 nearing $1.49—a figure slightly above EPS for 2016 ($1.12) and beating analysts’ consensus earnings estimates of up to $1.40 by a considerable margin.
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