NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Receives $199.21 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $199.2143.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NRG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Scotiabank began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,411,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $865,437,000 after purchasing an additional 39,253 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $790,471,000 after acquiring an additional 31,238 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in NRG Energy by 772.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,342,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876,235 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 2,050,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $195,693,000 after acquiring an additional 235,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,921,000 after purchasing an additional 767,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.0%

NRG stock opened at $160.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $79.57 and a 1-year high of $180.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $165.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.05.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.31%.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.