CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Upgraded at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CNP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho set a $44.00 target price on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.15.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $42.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.47. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $44.47.

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 business had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 10.46%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900- EPS. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 35.1% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 91,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,965,000 after purchasing an additional 23,893 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 6.1% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $244,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $1,437,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 7.3% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Company 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.