NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.75.

Several analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $95.35 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.34. NRG Energy has a 12-month low of $37.45 and a 12-month high of $96.20. The firm has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. The company had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 23.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total value of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 357,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 172,400 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 885.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,073,000 after acquiring an additional 213,347 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in NRG Energy by 784.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 10,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 9,678 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in NRG Energy by 148.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 21,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 13,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 37,750 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.