Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.14.

NRG Energy Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of NRG opened at $105.05 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.46. The company has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy has a twelve month low of $52.96 and a twelve month high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 44.22%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after buying 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% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,521 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP raised 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 purchasing an additional 815,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in 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 valued at $81,583,000 after purchasing an additional 703,481 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.