Squarepoint Ops LLC Lowers Stock Position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,180,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 75,198 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $96,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.1% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 5.5% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 187,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,244,000 after purchasing an additional 9,746 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 12,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 19,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $896,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.36.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $40.19 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.22 and a 12-month high of $45.26. The company has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.910 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.47%.

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.