Wells Fargo & Company Raises NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $85.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $78.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of NRG Energy from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

NRG stock opened at $66.61 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.19. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $68.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of -62.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.11.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 5.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently -152.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 145.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,746,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,434 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2,317.0% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,759,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,686,761 shares during the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,850,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,072,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 326.7% in the 1st quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,600,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,000 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.