NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

by · The Markets Daily

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG – Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NRG. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $145.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.31.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on NRG Energy

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $165.07. 2,085,070 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,948,952. The company has a market cap of $31.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.69 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $166.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.94. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $180.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 48,571 shares in the company, valued at $7,528,505. This represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its position in NRG Energy by 90.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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