Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $16.43 Million in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 373,113 CenterPoint Energy shares worth approximately $16.43 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 91.77% of the stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $45.36, compared with the stock’s recent price of $39.24.
• CenterPoint exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.24 per share, equivalent to a 2.4% annualized yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 373,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,432,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.06% of CenterPoint Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNP. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 58,286,690 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,234,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,794,535 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $802,916,000 after acquiring an additional 235,346 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $770,871,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,023,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $650,189,000 after purchasing an additional 166,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $343,925,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.36.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CNP opened at $39.24 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.60 and a 52-week high of $45.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.58. The company has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.46.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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