NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Trading 6.8% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) shot up 6.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $99.23 and last traded at $98.10. 848,647 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 3,247,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.71.

NRG Energy Stock Up 9.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.25. The company has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This trade represents a 38.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,820,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,948,000 after acquiring an additional 24,834 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 7.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,639,000 after acquiring an additional 182,481 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 65.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,318,000 after purchasing an additional 633,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 52.2% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,227,000 after purchasing an additional 456,573 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.