NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target Raised to $110.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $65.50.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $82.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 1.11. NRG Energy has a one year low of $31.68 and a one year high of $86.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.06.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 42.60% and a net margin of 5.76%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s 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 owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 486.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,696,000 after purchasing an additional 156,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.