NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Now Covered by Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank has set a "sector outperform" rating with a price target of $212.00 for NRG Energy, indicating a potential upside of 29.37% from the previous close.
• NRG Energy reported $1.68 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing expectations, but showed revenue growth of 1.2% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of NRG Energy's stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like Goldman Sachs and Amundi during the first quarter.

Investment analysts at Scotiabank began coverage on shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "sector outperform" rating and a $212.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Scotiabank's target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.90% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $188.85.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG traded up $6.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $171.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,579,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,121,923. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.43, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.88. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $175.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,528,505. The trade was a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,437 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 3.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 32.1% in the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 383 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.