Swedbank AB Purchases New Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Swedbank AB acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 55,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,381,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,158,492,000 after acquiring an additional 719,803 shares during the period. 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 worth $2,234,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,794,535 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,023,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,189,000 after purchasing an additional 166,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,925,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 target price on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.69.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.59. 6,551,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,599,078. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.16. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.58 and a 12-month high of $45.22. The company has a market cap of $28.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.93.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. Research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.44%.

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.