Brian Curci Sells 46,976 Shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Brian Curci also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 5th, Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of NRG Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total value of $9,796,391.80.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock traded down $1.99 on Tuesday, hitting $159.61. The company had a trading volume of 2,038,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,287. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.57 and a twelve month high of $180.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45. The firm has a market cap of $30.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $164.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.36.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.21.

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.