CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP Shares Sold by HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC reduced its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 87.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 207,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,440,793 shares during the quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $7,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,129,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,069,000 after acquiring an additional 833,374 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,381,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,158,492,000 after acquiring an additional 719,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $802,916,000 after acquiring an additional 235,346 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,023,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,189,000 after acquiring an additional 166,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,925,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $42.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $28.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.20. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.46 and a 52 week high of $44.47.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 11.38%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNP. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.62.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.