Analysts Set NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Price Target at $196.33

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $196.3333.

A number of analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings cut NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.5%

NRG opened at $152.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $189.96. The stock has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.27 and a 200-day moving average of $161.60.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 48.22%.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 172,556 shares of company stock worth $27,550,446 over the last 90 days. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NRG. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 9.7% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 155,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,953,000 after acquiring an additional 13,757 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 122.8% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 295,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,852,000 after purchasing an additional 162,874 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 7,344 shares in the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,003,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,225,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,442,000 after purchasing an additional 86,528 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.