NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Posted by Stanley Muller on Aug 24th, 2026

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $162.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. NRG Energy traded as low as $111.85 and last traded at $112.2870, with a volume of 214659 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $113.11.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on NRG. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $226.00 to $211.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $210.00 price objective on NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $214.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on NRG Energy from $221.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.43.

Get Our Latest Research Report on NRG

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.52, for a total transaction of $2,550,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 45,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,752,554.72. This trade represents a 30.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.74.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.20). NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 52.95%. The business had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. NRG Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-9.900 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 50.26%.

NRG Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.