NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives $199.21 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $199.2143.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NRG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Scotiabank began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research cut NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $128,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in NRG Energy by 781.1% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 82,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,382,000 after purchasing an additional 73,252 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in NRG Energy by 7.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in NRG Energy by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 66,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,767,000 after buying an additional 16,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CMC Financial Group bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $342,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $160.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 1.26. NRG Energy has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $180.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.05.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to repurchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.