KBC Group NV Acquires 23,980 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• KBC Group NV boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 40.5%, buying 23,980 shares to own 83,207 shares valued at about $3.19M, and institutional investors now own roughly 91.77% of the stock.
• Analysts have been upgrading and raising price targets—Jefferies lifted its target to $49 and several firms bumped targets—yet MarketBeat's consensus remains a "Hold" with a $43.75 target.
• CenterPoint slightly missed quarterly EPS at $0.45, set FY2026 guidance at 1.900 EPS, and pays a $0.23 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.92) for a ~2.1% yield with a 57.5% payout ratio.

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 40.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,980 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $3,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. LBP AM SA raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 93,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,599,000 after purchasing an additional 10,197 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 15,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 9,463 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 4,072 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 15,112 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 400,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,368,000 after buying an additional 20,502 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CNP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.75.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $43.03 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $28.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.54. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.46 and a 52 week high of $44.47. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $42.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.40.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 11.24%.The business had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900- EPS. Research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is currently 57.50%.

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.

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