NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 30th

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.4075 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th.

NRG Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 8.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. NRG Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 23.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect NRG Energy to earn $6.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.63 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.0%.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $72.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.05 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy has a 12 month low of $30.52 and a 12 month high of $76.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.17 and its 200 day moving average is $54.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.81 billion for 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%. Research analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on NRG. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.