NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim increased their target price on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.14.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NRG opened at $105.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $102.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.63. NRG Energy has a twelve month low of $54.12 and a twelve month high of $117.26. The company has a market capitalization of $21.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.22%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.