NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Price Down 5.2% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• NRG shares fell 5.2% intraday to about $159.02, trading as low as $159.72 on unusually light volume (roughly 1.04M shares, down 59% vs. average).
• Wall Street consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with a mean target of $198.21 (1 Strong Buy, 11 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell among analysts and several recent overweight/outperform initiations).
• NRG missed EPS ($1.04 vs. $1.19 expected) but posted revenue of $7.75B (up 13.7% YoY), and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.475 (annualized $1.90, ~1.2% yield).

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 5.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $159.72 and last traded at $159.0150. Approximately 1,040,575 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 2,548,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NRG shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $203.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $232.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of NRG Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.21.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $161.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. The company has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.86 and a beta of 1.35.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.65, for a total value of $783,250.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 55,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,693,291.75. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 178.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,676,513 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,222,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916,653 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $305,817,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 124.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,808,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,672 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 492.5% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $141,918,000 after purchasing an additional 734,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Press International Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth about $98,360,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy NYSE: NRG is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG's generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.

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