NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.41

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.4075 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%.

NRG Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. NRG Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 23.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect NRG Energy to earn $6.32 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 25.8%.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock opened at $70.52 on Friday. 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 has a 52 week low of $30.52 and a 52 week high of $76.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.79.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Permian Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP now owns 5,326,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $204,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,142,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,483,000 after buying an additional 64,942 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 145.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,746,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,064,000 after buying an additional 2,812,434 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,356,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,899,000 after buying an additional 891,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 2,317.0% during 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 buying an additional 1,686,761 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.