Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 61,740 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 962,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,740 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $36,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Souders Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 11,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,595,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,186,000 after acquiring an additional 781,849 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 21,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:CNP opened at $41.71 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 firm has a market cap of $27.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.48. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.46 and a 52 week high of $44.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.69.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 10.56%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNP shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.38.

CenterPoint Energy 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.