NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Price Down 4.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) fell 4.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $89.20 and last traded at $89.31. 661,990 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,348,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.25.

NRG Energy Price Performance

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 capitalization of $18.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The company had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 23.09%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 357,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,489,000 after purchasing an additional 172,400 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 885.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,073,000 after buying an additional 213,347 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 784.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 10,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 9,678 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 148.6% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 21,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 13,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 104.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after acquiring an additional 37,750 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.