NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Given New $82.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $73.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NRG has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $64.25.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NRG traded up $5.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.76. The stock had a trading volume of 5,885,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,685,800. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $83.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.31 and a beta of 1.11.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.70%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently -152.34%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 305,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,816,000 after buying an additional 136,968 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 486.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 900,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,688,000 after buying an additional 746,899 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,696,000 after acquiring an additional 156,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.