NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Price Down 13.5% - Should You Sell?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 13.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $97.12 and last traded at $97.23. Approximately 1,379,996 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 3,166,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.43.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $19.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.72. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. NRG Energy's payout ratio is presently 40.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction 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 represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.9% in 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 buying an additional 24,834 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $121,227,000 after buying an additional 456,573 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.