NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Short Interest Down 34.1% in March

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,070,000 shares, a decrease of 34.1% from the March 15th total of 15,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 5.0% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $220,696,000 after buying an additional 156,974 shares in the last quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP now owns 5,326,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $204,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,142,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $177,483,000 after purchasing an additional 64,942 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 25.7% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,356,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $162,899,000 after purchasing an additional 891,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 8.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,401,396 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $92,502,000 after purchasing an additional 197,122 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG traded down $0.67 on Friday, hitting $73.92. 4,281,295 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,691,565. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $30.52 and a 1-year high of $76.11. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $61.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.08 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. TheStreet raised shares of NRG Energy from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.50.

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.

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