Analysts Set CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Price Target at $42.55

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.5455.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $42.98 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $34.72 and a one year high of $44.39. 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 stock has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 11.24%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. 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

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $343,925,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $2,234,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,794,535 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,722,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $296,096,000 after buying an additional 1,256,993 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently 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.