NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $143.53, but opened at $150.64. NRG Energy shares last traded at $150.3630, with a volume of 710,264 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy Stock Up 4.2%

The company has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $162.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.24.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. The trade was a 41.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at $7,075,549.62. This represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 2.2% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Donald L. Hagan LLC lifted its position in NRG Energy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 5.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 4.7% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.