NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Trading 6.1% Higher

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) shares shot up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $83.03 and last traded at $82.64. 735,724 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,549,876 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.82 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.79.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.70%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. As a group, analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -152.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 305,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,816,000 after acquiring an additional 136,968 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in NRG Energy by 486.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 900,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,688,000 after purchasing an additional 746,899 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in NRG Energy by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,696,000 after purchasing an additional 156,974 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.