NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.14.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $105.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. NRG Energy has a 1 year low of $54.12 and a 1 year high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NRG Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after purchasing an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in NRG Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,828,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,142,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in NRG Energy by 7.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after purchasing an additional 182,481 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,943,000 after acquiring an additional 316,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Appaloosa LP lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.