NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Sets New 52-Week High at $76.54

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $76.54 and last traded at $76.05, with a volume of 403343 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet raised NRG Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.50.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.66 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is -152.34%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 427,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,396,000 after acquiring an additional 24,792 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 229,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,243,000 after buying an additional 14,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.