NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) PT Raised to $83.00 at Morgan Stanley

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $83.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on NRG. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $68.00.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NRG opened at $80.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $31.68 and a fifty-two week high of $87.58. The stock has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.71.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.12). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 42.60% and a net margin of 5.76%. Analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 23.09%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total transaction of $2,047,381.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 266,064 shares in the company, valued at $22,192,398.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total transaction of $2,047,381.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 266,064 shares in the company, valued at $22,192,398.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,005.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.