NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.00.

A number of research firms have weighed in on NRG. Evercore ISI increased their target price on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,047,381.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 266,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,192,398.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NRG. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1,005.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG opened at $80.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.20. NRG Energy has a 52-week low of $34.40 and a 52-week high of $87.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.01.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $7.43 billion for the quarter. NRG Energy had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 42.60%. As a group, analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.09%.

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.