Stack Financial Management Inc Makes New Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Stack Financial Management Inc acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 718,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,624,000. CenterPoint Energy accounts for 2.5% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,925,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.2% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 6,794,535 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,261,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $278,390,000 after buying an additional 1,728,865 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,722,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,096,000 after buying an additional 1,256,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 85.5% during the third quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 2,493,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,748,000 after buying an additional 1,149,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CNP. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BTIG Research started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 price target on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $40.83 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.60 and a 52-week high of $45.26. The company has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.92 and a 200-day moving average of $42.59.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.47%.

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.