CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,978,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 96,414 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $229,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. UBS Group AG lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,728,865 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,722,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,993 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 85.5% during the third quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 2,493,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149,637 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 15.4% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 7,220,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,146,000 after acquiring an additional 962,910 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth $35,993,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. Mizuho set a $44.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.62.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $43.06 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.00. The stock has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.48. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.46 and a 1 year high of $44.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.16.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 11.38%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.44%.

CenterPoint Energy 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.