NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Trading Up 6.1%

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)’s share price rose 6.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $83.03 and last traded at $82.64. Approximately 735,724 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,549,876 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.25.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.34. The firm has a market cap of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of -76.41 and a beta of 1.11.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 5.8% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in NRG Energy by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 168,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,508,000 after purchasing an additional 65,706 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 57,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 482,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,262,000 after purchasing an additional 15,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.