NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Downgraded to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• NRG Energy has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment regarding the stock.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $160.30 for NRG Energy, with varying ratings from "hold" to "strong-buy" from different firms.
• In recent trading, NRG Energy's stock opened at $156.58 and has a market capitalization of $30.61 billion, indicating strong financial performance with a significant quarterly revenue increase of 15.6% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on NRG. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $129.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $167.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.30.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NRG traded up $1.21 on Friday, hitting $159.75. 1,978,744 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,509,173. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $65.11 and a 1-year high of $168.57. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $154.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $1.90. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 73.78%. The business had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.39%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total value of $7,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 55,427 shares in the company, valued at $8,563,471.50. This represents a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 422.2% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

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.