NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $198.3077.

NRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NYSE NRG opened at $168.57 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $167.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.18. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $180.54. The stock has a market cap of $32.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.28 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%.The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,654,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 48,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at $7,075,549.62. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NRG. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 244,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,578,000 after acquiring an additional 153,239 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth $4,334,000. WBI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 196.0% during the third quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 7,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 5,083 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 304.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maven Securities LTD boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 156.1% in the 3rd quarter. Maven Securities LTD now owns 15,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 9,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.