NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $200.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. NRG Energy traded as high as $158.66 and last traded at $156.73, with a volume of 8016317 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.61.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on NRG. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $129.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.25.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 12.1% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 13.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 8.7% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 4.1%

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $101.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $31.92 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.00.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $1.90. NRG Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 48.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is 35.92%.

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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