NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Short Interest Down 20.5% in January

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,910,000 shares, a decrease of 20.5% from the December 31st total of 11,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG Energy stock traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,897,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,176,772. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy has a 12-month low of $51.26 and a 12-month high of $115.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $98.17 and its 200-day moving average is $89.47. The company has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.15.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. The trade was a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,225,000 after buying an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 24,834 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 182,481 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after buying an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 456,573 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim increased 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.43.

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.