Wolfe Research Upgrades NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) to “Outperform”

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $190.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.79% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NRG. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price target on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.43.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:NRG opened at $154.74 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.95. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.15 billion, a PE ratio of 39.27 and a beta of 1.26.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696 over the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 4.7% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.