NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Trading Up 7.7% – Still a Buy?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) was up 7.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $99.91 and last traded at $99.87. Approximately 832,627 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 1,451,175 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim raised their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.71.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.12.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 40.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $494,225,000 after purchasing an additional 313,478 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in NRG Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,820,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,948,000 after buying an additional 24,834 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after buying an additional 182,481 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake 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 worth $121,227,000 after acquiring an additional 456,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 32,962.3% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.