NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.50.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. TheStreet upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in NRG Energy by 145.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,746,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,434 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 2,317.0% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,759,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,686,761 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,072,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its stake in NRG Energy by 326.7% in the first quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,600,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 3,477.2% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 976,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,618,000 after purchasing an additional 949,289 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $72.96 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.27. NRG Energy has a twelve month low of $30.52 and a twelve month high of $76.54.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is -152.34%.

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.