NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Insider Rasesh M. Patel Sells 24,546 Shares

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,047,381.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 266,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,192,398.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NYSE NRG traded down $0.82 on Monday, reaching $81.48. 3,242,516 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,688,238. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $72.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The company has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 1.11. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.68 and a 12 month high of $86.00.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 42.60% and a net margin of 5.76%. As a group, research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $349,000. National Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 116.5% during the 1st quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 188,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,753,000 after acquiring an additional 101,378 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $64,306,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,321 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,985,000 after acquiring an additional 7,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.50.

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.