NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives $59.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.50.

Several analysts recently commented on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $77.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.53. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $30.62 and a fifty-two week high of $78.39. The company has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.82 and a beta of 1.11.

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

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -152.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $118,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 305,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,816,000 after buying an additional 136,968 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 486.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 900,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,688,000 after acquiring an additional 746,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,696,000 after purchasing an additional 156,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.