NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target Lowered to $200.00 at Barclays

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Barclays from $203.00 to $200.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 39.95% from the company’s current price.

NRG has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.21.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NRG stock traded up $1.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $142.90. 397,245 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,540,478. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $158.77 and its 200-day moving average is $161.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. The company has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45 and a beta of 1.26.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This trade represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696 over the last quarter. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NRG. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,868,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,730,685,000 after buying an additional 234,666 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 178.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,676,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,222,409,000 after buying an additional 4,916,653 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $910,324,000 after buying an additional 82,162 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $790,471,000 after acquiring an additional 31,238 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $305,817,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.