NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) to Repurchase $3.00 billion in Outstanding Stock

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to buy up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $145.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Melius initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $197.54.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NRG opened at $168.89 on Friday. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.42 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,654,160.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,528,505. The trade was a 18.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.