BMO Capital Markets Raises NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $185.00

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has raised its price target for NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.55% from the current market price.
• The stock has received multiple positive ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $162.10, indicating strong interest from analysts.
• NRG Energy reported a quarterly EPS of $1.68, exceeding estimates, and analysts predict earnings of 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) had its price target lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $167.00 to $185.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the utilities provider's stock.

NRG has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays set a $197.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NRG Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.70.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.3%

NRG traded down $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,574,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,324,011. The business has a 50-day moving average of $155.73 and a 200-day moving average of $125.95. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $76.13 and a 1-year high of $175.96. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a PE ratio of 69.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%. The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that NRG Energy 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 Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.64%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total transaction of $7,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 55,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,563,471.50. This represents a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NRG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,528 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,060 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,684,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 207,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,749,000 after buying an additional 42,570 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by 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.