Zacks Research Issues Positive Forecast for CNP Earnings

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for CenterPoint Energy in a report issued on Monday, December 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.56 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.55. The consensus estimate for CenterPoint Energy's current full-year earnings is $1.62 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for CenterPoint Energy's Q2 2025 earnings at $0.39 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.31 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.42 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on CNP. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. Bank of America started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,444,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,312,022. The stock's 50-day moving average is $31.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $33.00.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth about $2,564,000. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $908,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,863,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,052,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,630,000 after buying an additional 124,529 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.