Analysts Anticipate CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Will Announce Earnings of $0.27 Per Share

Wall Street brokerages expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Get Rating) will post $0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Three analysts have issued estimates for CenterPoint Energy’s earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $0.26 and the highest estimate coming in at $0.28. CenterPoint Energy posted earnings of $0.36 per share in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a negative year over year growth rate of 25%. The business is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will report full year earnings of $1.38 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.37 to $1.40. For the next financial year, analysts forecast that the business will report earnings of $1.49 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.48 to $1.51. Zacks’ earnings per share averages are an average based on a survey of research analysts that cover CenterPoint Energy.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share.

Several research firms have commented on CNP. StockNews.com upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.07.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 62,536,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,745,384,000 after purchasing an additional 6,679,825 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,966,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $663,387,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279,070 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,235,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $564,785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,973,550 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1,196.3% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 4,655,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,928,000 after purchasing an additional 4,296,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $119,608,000. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Shares of CNP opened at $30.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $33.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.56 and a 200-day moving average of $28.37.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 19th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.98%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile (Get Rating)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric and Natural Gas segments. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as assets in the wholesale power market.

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