NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.50.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NRG. StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded NRG Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in NRG Energy by 145.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,746,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,064,000 after buying an additional 2,812,434 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 2,317.0% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,759,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,686,761 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at about $49,072,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 326.7% in the first quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,600,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,864,000 after buying an additional 1,225,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 3,477.2% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 976,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,618,000 after buying an additional 949,289 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $73.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.98 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.04. NRG Energy has a one year low of $30.52 and a one year high of $73.84.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. Equities analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently -152.34%.

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.