NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Plans $0.41 Quarterly Dividend

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, October 11th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.4075 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%.

NRG Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 8.0% annually over the last three years. NRG Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 24.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect NRG Energy to earn $6.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.63 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.5%.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock opened at $89.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.10. NRG Energy has a 52-week low of $40.10 and a 52-week high of $96.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.16.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The company had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that NRG Energy will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on NRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.25.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.86% 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.