NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $89.75.

NRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 74.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG stock opened at $86.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $86.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.95. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $41.73 and a 1-year high of $96.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. The company had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 17.76%.

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.