NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Citigroup from $84.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.31% from the stock’s previous close.

NRG has been the subject of several other research reports. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NRG Energy from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $86.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.10. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $41.73 and a 52 week high of $96.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.24 and its 200-day moving average is $80.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.18.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 885.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,073,000 after purchasing an additional 213,347 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 148.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 21,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 13,040 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 104.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after acquiring an additional 37,750 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 65.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,318,000 after acquiring an additional 633,765 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the second quarter worth $746,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.