NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

NRG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

NRG Energy Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE NRG opened at $88.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.26. The stock has a market cap of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy has a 12-month low of $59.50 and a 12-month high of $117.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 32,962.3% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,521 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 904,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,583,000 after acquiring an additional 703,481 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.