CenterPoint Energy Inc. CNP focuses on consistent investments in infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, which has played a critical role in the company's expanding operations. Given its strong growth, CNP makes for a solid investment option in the Zacks Utility Electric Power industry.

Let us focus on the reasons that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment.

CNP’s Growth Forecast

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNP’s 2025 earnings per share (EPS) stands at $1.75, which indicates year-over-year growth of 8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS is pegged at $1.88, which implies year-over-year growth of 7.2%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNP’s revenues for 2025 stands at $8.99 billion, which calls for growth of 4.1% from the 2024 reported figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2026 revenues is pegged at $9.36 billion, which suggests a year-over-year increase of 4%.

The company’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 7.8%.

CNP’s Solvency

CenterPoint Energy’s times interest earned ratio (TIE) at the end of the first quarter of 2025 was 2.3. The TIE ratio greater than 1 suggests that the company will be able to meet its interest payment obligations in the near term without difficulty.

CNP’s Return to Shareholders

CenterPoint Energy has increased shareholder value by continuously paying dividends. Currently, the company’s quarterly dividend is 22 cents per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of 88 cents. CNP’s current dividend yield is 2.35%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite's average of 1.24%.

During the first quarter of 2025, the company paid $143 million in dividends compared to the year-ago figure of $126 million.

CNP’s Structured Investment Approach

CenterPoint Energy consistently invests in upgrading and maintaining its infrastructure while expanding operations. The company's capital expenditure plan over the next 10 years is $48.5 billion, with an investment aim of $4.8 billion in 2025. Such investments should improve the company’s customer reliability and provide safe, resilient energy.

As part of its 10-year capital expenditure strategy, CenterPoint Energy intends to invest more than $3 billion in renewable energy generation and electric vehicle (EV) expansion. With these expenditures, the company anticipates having about 1,000 megawatts of power generation from wind and solar energy sources by 2026.

CNP's Initiatives for the EV Market

To satisfy the demands of EV drivers and fleet operators, CenterPoint Energy has been making significant investments in creating a smarter, cleaner and more resilient ecosystem. To achieve this, the company has been aggressively pushing off-road electrification, consisting of electric carts and forklifts.

As part of its net-zero emission plan, CenterPoint Energy's corporate fleet aims to electrify all cars and SUVs by 2030. These initiatives should further solidify the company's position in the expanding EV industry.

Story Continues

CNP Stock Outperforms Industry

In the past three months, CNP shares have risen 11.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 4.8%.Zacks Investment Research

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Other Stocks to Consider

A few other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are WEC Energy Group WEC, DTE Energy Company DTE and Avista AVA, each holding a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

WEC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS is pegged at $5.24, which indicates a year-over-year improvement of 8.5%. 

DTE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS is pegged at $7.24, which suggests a year-over-year rise of 6%. 

AVA’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS is pegged at $2.61, which calls for a year-over-year improvement of 14%.

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DTE Energy Company (DTE):Free Stock Analysis Report

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC):Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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