NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Short Interest Update

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,960,000 shares, a decrease of 19.2% from the February 13th total of 8,610,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 414.9% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.8 %

NRG stock opened at $98.30 on Thursday. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $65.11 and a 52 week high of $117.26. The company has a market capitalization of $20.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

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.