NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.21.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Williams Trading set a $184.00 target price on NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $221.00 price target on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 178.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,676,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,222,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916,653 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $910,324,000 after purchasing an additional 82,162 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth $473,391,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 16.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,192,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,396,000 after buying an additional 313,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,191,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,145,000 after buying an additional 21,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 1.3%

NRG stock opened at $95.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.61 and a 200-day moving average of $133.66. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $93.36 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96. The company has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $7.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 52.95%. NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $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 predict that NRG Energy will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.4750 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.26%.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc (NYSE:NRG) is an integrated power and home services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces and sells electricity and natural gas and provides energy-related products and services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

NRG operates power generation assets that use a range of fuel sources, including natural gas, coal, nuclear power and renewable energy. It also develops and supports technologies such as battery storage and offers electricity, natural gas, renewable energy and energy-management services through retail brands including Reliant, Direct Energy, Green Mountain Energy and other regional providers.

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