NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Hits New 12-Month High at $76.59

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $76.59 and last traded at $76.23, with a volume of 358205 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on NRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $67.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.34.

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

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -152.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter worth $31,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,005.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.