NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,610,000 shares, a growth of 36.7% from the January 31st total of 6,300,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $98.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $59.50 and a 52 week high of $117.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.04.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,828,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,142,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 7.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after acquiring an additional 182,481 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,943,000 after acquiring an additional 316,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Appaloosa LP grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NRG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.29.

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.