CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. CenterPoint Energy updated its FY 2025 guidance to 1.740-1.760 EPS.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.72. The company had a trading volume of 809,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,021,690. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $34.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.29 and its 200-day moving average is $30.22. The company has a market capitalization of $21.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNP. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.46.

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.