NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 3rd

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41.

NRG Energy has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 2.7% per year over the last three years. NRG Energy has a payout ratio of 21.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect NRG Energy to earn $7.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.5%.

NRG Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $102.65 on Friday. NRG Energy has a 12 month low of $51.26 and a 12 month high of $115.38. The stock has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, 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. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NRG. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.43.

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.