NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Scotiabank

Scotiabank began coverage on shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sector outperform rating and a $212.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on NRG. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $308.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.85.

NRG Energy Stock Up 4.1%

NRG opened at $171.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99. The firm has a market cap of $33.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.43, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.17. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $175.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.88.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at about $257,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $541,000. WT Wealth Management acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $227,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 95,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,317,000 after acquiring an additional 38,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. 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.