Brokerages Set NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Price Target at $68.00

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NRG. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,047,381.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 266,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,192,398.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 7.8% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 11.3% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 23,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,364 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 57,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 15,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,401,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,502,000 after buying an additional 197,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NRG opened at $78.66 on Friday. NRG Energy has a twelve month low of $35.93 and a twelve month high of $87.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.00.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.12). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 42.60% and a net margin of 5.76%. The company had revenue of $7.43 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.09%.

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.