CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $44.06 and last traded at $43.9920, with a volume of 224545 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.55.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.51.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.51 billion during 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900- EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth $343,925,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,794,535 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,261,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,865 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,609,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,362,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,989,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301,374 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.