NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Reaches New 52-Week High at $88.49

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $88.49 and last traded at $88.49, with a volume of 17237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.75.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.53.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 23.09%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,688. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the first quarter worth about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in NRG Energy by 76.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.