Forensic Analysis · Electric Utilities · as of Nov 8, 2026
Centerpoint Energy Inc (CNP)
A forensic read on Centerpoint Energy Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
9.6%
ROE
8.3%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Centerpoint Energy Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
FCF ($2.4B)
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $574M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025, but free cash flow was ($2.4B) after capex — there was no free cash flow to fund the payout from at all, though operating cash flow alone was $2.5B — 23% of that. Capex and the payout together ran $3.0B past operating cash flow — a harder case than returns merely running ahead of free cash flow, since here there was none to run ahead of. The balance sheet covered it: cash and short-term investments fell $37M and total debt rose $2.0B over FY2025 — $2.1B of the $3.0B. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $3.7B of debt issued against $1.6B repaid; net cash used in investing activities of $4.0B; net cash provided by financing activities of $1.5B.
4.3%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 4.3% in the latest fiscal year and steady across FY2023–FY2025, inside a 0.3-point range. After-tax operating profit was $1.5B in FY2023 and $1.8B in FY2025, with operating income at 20.2% of revenue in FY2023, 23.0% in FY2024 and 22.5% in FY2025. The capital base behind it grew +13% across FY2023–FY2025, from $36.8B to $41.5B, and the return did not fall doing it, so the dollars added over that window earned at least the 4.0% the older base was already earning.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$9.36B
Revenue Growth YoY+8.3%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+3.7%
Net Margin11.2%
Free Cash Flow-$2.38B
Return on Equity9.6%
Debt / Equity2.06x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Centerpoint Energy Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?