Legal & General Group Plc Invests $250.27 Million in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. $CNP

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,682,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,273,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 165.0% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.8%

CNP stock opened at $39.63 on Thursday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.60 and a fifty-two week high of $45.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.61. 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 company has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.46.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 11.10%. 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, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CNP. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. 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. Wall Street Zen raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.36.

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.