NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Price Down 7% – What’s Next?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) dropped 7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $148.75 and last traded at $149.0050. Approximately 2,019,129 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 2,836,940 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research downgraded NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.77.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 4.7% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.