CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

CNP has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.00.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of CNP opened at $42.87 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.01. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $33.24 and a 12 month high of $43.20. The firm has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 11.24%.The business had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900- EPS. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $343,925,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 58,286,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,234,712,000 after buying an additional 6,794,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 31.6% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,859,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,765,000 after buying an additional 1,886,374 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,261,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,390,000 after buying an additional 1,728,865 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 3,842.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,609,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,714 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.