Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Buy (B-)" Rating for CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "Buy (B-)" rating for CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP), indicating positive investor sentiment towards the stock.
• Despite the positive outlook from Weiss Ratings, other analysts have mixed views, with Wall Street Zen downgrading CNP to a "sell" rating, while Mizuho and JPMorgan Chase set their price targets at $40.00.
• CenterPoint Energy's stock saw a performance increase, trading at $39.57 with a market capitalization of $25.83 billion, despite recent earnings missing analyst expectations.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

CNP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.86.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CNP traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, reaching $39.57. 3,598,930 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,849,700. The firm has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $28.57 and a 12 month high of $40.50.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.740-1.760 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,362,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,989,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301,374 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,710,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $611,377,000 after acquiring an additional 652,202 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $313,456,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 31.6% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,859,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $288,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,934,611 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $215,011,000 after buying an additional 54,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

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.

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