Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Stock

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 1.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CNP. Mizuho set a $44.00 target price on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.75.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $43.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $28.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.54. CenterPoint Energy 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 1.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.34.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900- EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,925,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 31.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP increased its stake 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 last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by 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.