Zacks Research Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for CNP

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for CenterPoint Energy in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, December 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.56 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share.

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

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $32.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $21.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,930,000 after acquiring an additional 56,037 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 143,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 38,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 6,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 82.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 17,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 8,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.28%.

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.