NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $113.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $93.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.71.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock opened at $101.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company has a market cap of $20.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.25. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $45.46 and a 52 week high of $102.84.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 163,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,151,688. This trade represents a 38.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at $217,671,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 32,962.3% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,521 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy in the second quarter worth about $53,773,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 65.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,318,000 after acquiring an additional 633,765 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 352.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,317,000 after purchasing an additional 627,121 shares during the period. 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.