NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Hits New 1-Year High at $76.59

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $76.59 and last traded at $76.23, with a volume of 358205 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $75.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NRG. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a PE ratio of -71.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.34.

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

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -152.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were 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 approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position 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 last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 12,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.