NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to “Outperform” Rating

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wolfe Research currently has $190.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $197.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.43.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $159.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.37 and a beta of 1.26. NRG Energy has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $189.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 177,556 shares of company stock worth $28,333,696. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,868,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,730,685,000 after buying an additional 234,666 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 178.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,676,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,222,409,000 after acquiring an additional 4,916,653 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $910,324,000 after purchasing an additional 82,162 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $790,471,000 after buying an additional 31,238 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $305,817,000. 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.