NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.2143.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Evercore started coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price target on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $232.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at $10,147,939.20. This trade represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 90.4% in the 3rd 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 own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.1%

NRG Energy stock opened at $152.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $158.80 and its 200-day moving average is $161.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a PE ratio of 38.72 and a beta of 1.35. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

About NRG Energy

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.