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

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com 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 objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.14.

A number of equities analysts have commented on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total transaction of $2,047,381.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 266,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,192,398.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $118,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 305,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,816,000 after purchasing an additional 136,968 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 486.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 900,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,688,000 after purchasing an additional 746,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 357,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,489,000 after purchasing an additional 172,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $74.19 on Thursday. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $35.97 and a 52 week high of $87.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.12). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 42.60% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $7.43 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.09%.

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.