Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 80%, now owning 133,410 shares valued at approximately $4.8 million.
• CenterPoint Energy reported a net margin of 10.42% in its latest quarter but missed earnings expectations, posting an EPS of $0.29 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.44.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 2.3% and has a dividend payout ratio of 61.54%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) by 80.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 133,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,302 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $4,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 80,229 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 6,377 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,913 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 864,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,309,000 after purchasing an additional 26,153 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 166,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 472.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $38.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.41 and a 12-month high of $39.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.12.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for 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 prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.740-1.760 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CNP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 price target on CenterPoint Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.50.

CenterPoint Energy 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.

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