HOUSTON (AP) _ CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP) on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $251 million.

The Houston-based company said it had profit of 37 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 36 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 25 cents per share.

The energy delivery company posted revenue of $1.74 billion in the period.

CenterPoint shares have increased 19% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has risen 17%. The stock has climbed 32% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CNP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CNP

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