Morgan Stanley Lowers CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target to $38.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.63% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.93.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $38.24 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.28. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $37.22 and a 12-month high of $45.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 11.61%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. Research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNP. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $802,916,000 after purchasing an additional 235,346 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $770,871,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,023,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $650,189,000 after purchasing an additional 166,305 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $343,925,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE:CNP) is an energy delivery company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its primary businesses include electric transmission and distribution and natural gas distribution, with operations focused on delivering energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers rather than producing most of the energy it supplies.

CenterPoint operates electric utility infrastructure in the Houston metropolitan area and in southwestern Indiana. The company also provides natural gas distribution services in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ohio.