Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 42,536 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.8%, owning over 5.4 million shares valued at approximately $195.9 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• CenterPoint Energy reported disappointing earnings, with a Q2 EPS of $0.29, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.44, and revenue of $1.94 billion against a forecast of $2.20 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.3%, set to be paid on September 11th for investors of record on August 21st.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,408,135 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,536 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.83% of CenterPoint Energy worth $195,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,111,777 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $98,739,000 after acquiring an additional 36,302 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 135.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 431,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,703,000 after purchasing an additional 62,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,258,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $37.80. 2,402,427 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,215,775. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $37.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $26.32 and a one year high of $39.39.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 9.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.740-1.760 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Mizuho set a $39.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.71.

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.