NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Melius began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.31.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.7%

NRG opened at $165.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $31.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.69 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.27. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $180.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given 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 1.1%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,528,505. This represents a 18.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NRG. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 90.4% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.