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

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) rose 7.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $99.91 and last traded at $99.87. Approximately 832,627 shares traded hands during mid-day 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

Several equities analysts have commented on NRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective 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 investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.71.

NRG Energy Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.82.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.95%.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after buying an additional 313,478 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised 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 valued at $256,948,000 after purchasing an additional 24,834 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $242,639,000 after purchasing an additional 182,481 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in NRG Energy by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,227,000 after purchasing an additional 456,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 32,962.3% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,521 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.