FY2024 EPS Forecast for CenterPoint Energy Lifted by Analyst

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) – Equities researchers at Scotiabank raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for CenterPoint Energy in a report issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.63 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.61. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for CenterPoint Energy’s current full-year earnings is $1.62 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for CenterPoint Energy’s FY2025 earnings at $1.75 EPS.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on CNP. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $31.84 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.56. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $33.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth about $276,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth about $318,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 107,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,285,000 after buying an additional 3,034 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 80.8% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 58.28%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.