Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $9.86 Million in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners acquired 223,917 CenterPoint Energy shares worth approximately $9.86 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with nine Buy ratings and eight Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $45.36, above the reported $39.29 share price.
• CenterPoint exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.40 EPS and $2.15 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.24 per share from $0.23.

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 223,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,861,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,316,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $802,916,000 after acquiring an additional 235,346 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,834,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 962,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,907,000 after acquiring an additional 61,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,595,867 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,186,000 after acquiring an additional 781,849 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $43.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.36.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CNP stock opened at $39.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.60. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.60 and a 1-year high of $45.26.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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