Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on NRG. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, September 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.43.

NRG Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE NRG traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $94.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,701,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,285,647. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.10. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $44.90 and a fifty-two week high of $102.84.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,880 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter worth $774,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $1,112,000. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,019,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently 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.