NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Given New $100.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on NRG. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $64.25.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG traded up $5.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.76. The stock had a trading volume of 5,885,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,685,800. The company has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of -75.31 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.16. NRG Energy has a 1 year low of $30.62 and a 1 year high of $83.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -152.34%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now 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 through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 1,005.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in NRG Energy by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.