NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,030,000 shares, a decline of 16.4% from the April 30th total of 7,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total value of $7,725,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,563,471.50. This trade represents a 47.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NRG. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 13.0% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 8.7% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in NRG Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG traded down $1.02 on Thursday, hitting $155.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,480,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,004,965. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.87. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $65.11 and a fifty-two week high of $162.33. The company has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $1.90. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.28 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 48.96% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. NRG Energy's payout ratio is 28.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.75.

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.