NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Hits New 52-Week High at $73.39

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $73.39 and last traded at $72.97, with a volume of 859363 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $59.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.04. The stock has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.98 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.70%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.51 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This is an increase from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. NRG Energy's payout ratio is -152.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 145.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,746,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $182,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,434 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2,317.0% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,759,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $90,969,000 after buying an additional 1,686,761 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,072,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 326.7% in the first quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,600,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 3,477.2% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 976,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,618,000 after acquiring an additional 949,289 shares during the period. 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.