NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• NRG Energy, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 12 research firms, with an average 1-year target price of $186.92.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%.
• NRG's latest quarterly earnings missed estimates, reporting $1.68 earnings per share compared to the expected $1.72, but revenue was up by 1.2% year-over-year.

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $186.9167.

A number of research analysts recently commented on NRG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Melius Research assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $308.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $166.16 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $153.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.44. NRG Energy has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $175.96. The firm has a market cap of $32.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.19, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The business's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.37 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 48,571 shares in the company, valued at $7,528,505. This represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NRG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,703,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 46,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 179.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 65,611 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 5,442 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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