Morgan Stanley Cuts NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $159.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $162.00 to $159.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $203.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $221.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Williams Trading set a $184.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $214.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.21.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $103.67 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.17, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $103.49 and a 52 week high of $189.96. The firm has a market cap of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43 and a beta of 1.18.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 52.95% and a net margin of 2.56%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. NRG Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-9.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.26%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, CAO Gerald Alfred Spencer sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.93, for a total transaction of $191,069.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,338.09. The trade was a 20.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Wellington Altus USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. National Pension Service grew its position in NRG Energy by 13.9% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 345,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,460,000 after buying an additional 42,196 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in NRG Energy by 19.9% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 2,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maven Securities LTD acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,033,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy, Inc is a North American energy and home services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company operates through power generation and energy retail businesses, supplying electricity and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NRG owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power-generation assets, including natural gas, coal, nuclear and renewable facilities. It also sells electricity and natural gas through brands such as Reliant, Direct Energy and Green Mountain Energy, with retail operations serving customers in competitive energy markets across the United States and Canada.

In addition to its energy operations, NRG provides smart-home, security and related connected-home services through its Vivint business.