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

Key Points

• Analysts at Wall Street Zen downgraded NRG Energy from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in sentiment towards the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, multiple research firms, including Jefferies and Barclays, have increased their price targets for NRG Energy, highlighting a mixed yet generally positive outlook among analysts.
• NRG Energy reported a quarterly EPS of $1.68, falling short of expectations, although its revenue increased slightly year-over-year to $6.74 billion.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Guggenheim upped their price target on NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.70.

NRG Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NRG stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $152.72. 2,574,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,354,016. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a PE ratio of 69.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.14. NRG Energy has a 1 year low of $76.13 and a 1 year high of $175.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $155.73 and a 200-day moving average of $126.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $7,725,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 55,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,563,471.50. This represents a 47.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 672 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in NRG Energy by 99.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 413,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,512,000 after buying an additional 206,096 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in NRG Energy by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in NRG Energy by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 23,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,265,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

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.