CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $44.93 Average Price Target from Analysts

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.9333.

A number of research analysts have commented on CNP shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, September 11th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock opened at $37.97 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.46. CenterPoint Energy has a 52-week low of $37.22 and a 52-week high of $45.26.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 11.61%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $770,871,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $343,925,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $332,753,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 58,286,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,234,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,794,535 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $250,273,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE:CNP) is an energy delivery company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its primary businesses include electric transmission and distribution and natural gas distribution, with operations focused on delivering energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers rather than producing most of the energy it supplies.

CenterPoint operates electric utility infrastructure in the Houston metropolitan area and in southwestern Indiana. The company also provides natural gas distribution services in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ohio.