Yaupon Capital Management LP Makes New $25.54 Million Investment in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Key Points

• Yaupon Capital Management LP has made a new investment in CenterPoint Energy, purchasing 704,980 shares valued at approximately $25.5 million, making it the firm's 21st largest holding.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Millennium Management LLC, have increased their stakes in CenterPoint Energy, with institutional investors owning 91.77% of the stock.
• CenterPoint Energy recently reported lower than expected earnings for the quarter, posting $0.29 earnings per share, missing analysts' estimates of $0.44.

Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 704,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $25,541,000. CenterPoint Energy accounts for 1.3% of Yaupon Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned about 0.11% of CenterPoint Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 201.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 price target on CenterPoint Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.50.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.1%

CNP traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $38.28. 4,280,833 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,214,389. The stock's fifty day moving average is $37.66 and its 200-day moving average is $36.86. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.32 and a 12 month high of $39.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.58.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.15). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%.The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.740-1.760 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

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

About CenterPoint Energy

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.