NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.75.

NRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $167.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $129.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total transaction of $7,725,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,563,471.50. The trade was a 47.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 468.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,757,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $454,173,000 after buying an additional 6,049,247 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 772.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $406,342,000 after buying an additional 3,876,235 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 169.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,817,018 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,230,000 after buying an additional 1,771,829 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $93,075,000. Finally, Appaloosa LP raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $163,749,000 after buying an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $155.94 on Friday. NRG Energy has a 12-month low of $65.11 and a 12-month high of $162.33. The company has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $123.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.81.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $1.90. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.28 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 48.96%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy's payout ratio is 28.39%.

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.

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