NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target Raised to $99.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $86.00 to $99.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.71.

NRG Energy Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NRG opened at $105.96 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.60. The company has a market capitalization of $21.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $51.49 and a 1-year high of $115.38.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.22%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 74.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.