Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 106,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,789,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,316,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 235,346 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,834,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $56,492,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 962,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,907,000 after buying an additional 61,740 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $39.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.46. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $36.60 and a one year high of $45.26.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.03. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 11.61%.The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.36.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

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.