NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $88.24 and last traded at $88.3120, with a volume of 635,211 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, October 19th. HSBC started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $179.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $159.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Williams Trading set a $165.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $131.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.56.

NRG Energy Trading Down 11.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.75.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $7.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 52.95% and a net margin of 2.56%. NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. Research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.4750 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 50.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, CAO Gerald Alfred Spencer sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.93, for a total value of $191,069.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,338.09. The trade was a 20.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $473,391,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in NRG Energy by 96.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 967,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,279,000 after buying an additional 474,474 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at about $59,455,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 169.9% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 636,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,983,000 after acquiring an additional 400,540 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in NRG Energy by 16.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,192,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,396,000 after acquiring an additional 313,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc is an integrated power and home services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces and sells electricity through a diverse generation portfolio that includes natural gas, coal, nuclear power, renewable energy and battery storage. NRG serves wholesale and retail energy markets, with operations and customers primarily in the United States and Canada.

Through retail brands including Reliant and Direct Energy, NRG provides electricity, natural gas and related energy products to residential, commercial and industrial customers.