NRG Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NRG)

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 8,563 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 37% compared to the average daily volume of 6,237 call options.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG stock opened at $86.00 on Friday. NRG Energy has a 12 month low of $31.68 and a 12 month high of $86.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.38. The stock has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 1.11.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 42.60%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 23.09%.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total transaction of $2,047,381.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 266,064 shares in the company, valued at $22,192,398.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,047,381.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 266,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,192,398.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 106.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 14,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 7,704 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 104.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,000,000 after buying an additional 37,750 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the first quarter worth about $349,000. National Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 15.9% during the first quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 116.5% during the first quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 188,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,753,000 after buying an additional 101,378 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 note on Tuesday, March 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.50.

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.