Barclays Lowers NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $200.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $203.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 33.20% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $232.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.21.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $150.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58. NRG Energy has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $189.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at $10,147,939.20. The trade was a 41.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 178.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,676,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,222,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916,653 shares during the period. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,817,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in NRG Energy by 124.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,808,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,469,000 after buying an additional 1,001,672 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in NRG Energy by 113.3% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,921,000 after buying an additional 767,014 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 492.5% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after acquiring an additional 734,624 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NRG Energy

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.