NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Price Down 4.5% – Time to Sell?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)’s share price fell 4.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $89.20 and last traded at $89.31. 661,990 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,348,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Six research 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.25.

NRG Energy Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 17.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.