CenterPoint Energy Stock Outlook: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

CenterPoint Energy Stock Outlook: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

Aritra Gangopadhyay

Thu, August 6, 2026 at 1:29 PM GMT+3 2 min read

Houston, Texas-based CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP) operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company has a market cap of $27.4 billion and operates through Electric; Natural Gas; and Corporate and Other segments and provides electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market in Indiana Electric's service territory, and more.

The energy supplier's shares have lagged behind the broader market over the past year, growing 4.4% compared to the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 22.6% surge. Moreover, in 2026, the stock has risen nearly 6%, underperforming the SPX's 8.5% rise as well.

More News from Barchart

Focusing on its industry benchmark, the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) has advanced 1.1% over the past year, underperforming the stock. In 2026, XLU has grown 2.3% and has also lagged behind the stock.

On July 29, CNP stock declined 2.7% following the release of its Q2 2026 earnings. The company's revenue for the quarter amounted to $2.2 billion and surpassed the Street's estimates. Moreover, its adjusted EPS came in at $0.40, also coming in on top of Wall Street's forecasts. Despite the better-than-expected results, the company's outlook for its full-year EPS came in at $1.89 to $1.91, below what the analysts expected, leading to a loss in investor confidence.

For the current year, which ends in December, analysts expect CNP's EPS to rise 8.5% to $1.91 on a diluted basis. The company has surpassed the consensus estimate in two of the last four quarters, while missing on two occasions.

Among the 19 analysts covering CNP stock, the consensus is a "Moderate Buy." That's based on nine "Strong Buy" ratings and 10 "Holds."

The configuration has remained more or less the same over the past few months.

On July 16, Truist Financial analyst maintained a "Buy" rating on Centerpoint Energy and set a price target of $48.

CNP's mean price target of $46.29 indicates a premium of 13.9% from the current market price. Its Street-high target of $50 implies a robust 23% upside from current levels.

On the date of publication, Aritra Gangopadhyay did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com