KeyCorp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Stock

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at KeyCorp from $41.00 to $47.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.29% from the stock’s previous close.

CNP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Seven investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.55.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $43.40 on Wednesday. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $33.24 and a 1-year high of $44.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Capital International Investors boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,129,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,381,069,000 after buying an additional 833,374 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,381,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,158,492,000 after acquiring an additional 719,803 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,794,535 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $802,916,000 after acquiring an additional 235,346 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,023,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,189,000 after purchasing an additional 166,305 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.