NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target Raised to $145.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its target price hoisted by Guggenheim from $134.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.14.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG stock opened at $105.73 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $102.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The firm has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $54.12 and a 1-year high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 32,962.3% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,521 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 350.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 904,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,583,000 after acquiring an additional 703,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.