NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Short Interest Down 19.2% in February

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,960,000 shares, a decline of 19.2% from the February 13th total of 8,610,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

NRG Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $96.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $102.12 and a 200 day moving average of $94.63. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $63.84 and a fifty-two week high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 100.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 414.9% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.29.

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.