NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,094,527 shares, a decline of 18.4% from the November 30th total of 5,017,597 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,599,345 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,599,345 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was 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 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 this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 772.5% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,342,000 after buying an additional 3,876,235 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,921,000 after purchasing an additional 767,014 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 289.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,023,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,672,000 after purchasing an additional 760,201 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 492.5% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,918,000 after buying an additional 734,624 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Press International Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $98,360,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NYSE NRG traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $159.36. 776,629 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,679,185. 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 current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $30.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $165.13 and its 200-day moving average is $160.10.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

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

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.