Morgan Stanley Boosts NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $63.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $51.00 to $63.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG stock opened at $67.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.26, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.32. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $68.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 5.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.4075 dividend. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -152.34%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 buying an additional 746,899 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in NRG Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,696,000 after purchasing an additional 156,974 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in NRG Energy by 14,547.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 515,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,642,000 after purchasing an additional 511,792 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $2,429,000. Finally, Covalis Capital LLP boosted its position in NRG Energy by 23.5% during the third quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 506,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,512,000 after purchasing an additional 96,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.