United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 19,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 4.9% during the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 31,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $39.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.46. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $36.60 and a one year high of $45.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.12.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.36.

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.