NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Stock Bumped Up to “Hold” by Zacks Research

Posted by Brian Himes on Oct 29th, 2026

Zacks Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG – Free Report) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on NRG. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $159.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane set a $221.00 target price on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 target price on NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 19th. HSBC assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $179.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised NRG Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.56.

Read Our Latest Report on NRG Energy

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $96.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.17, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. NRG Energy has a 52-week low of $90.80 and a 52-week high of $189.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $105.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65 and a beta of 1.17.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $7.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 52.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. NRG Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-9.900 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.4750 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 50.26%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CAO Gerald Alfred Spencer sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.93, for a total transaction of $191,069.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,338.09. The trade was a 20.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at about $473,391,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in NRG Energy by 16.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,192,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,396,000 after buying an additional 313,410 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,191,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,145,000 after buying an additional 21,666 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 96.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 967,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,279,000 after buying an additional 474,474 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 50.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 857,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,268,000 after buying an additional 287,381 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NRG Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

NRG Energy, Inc is an integrated power and home services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces and sells electricity through a diverse generation portfolio that includes natural gas, coal, nuclear power, renewable energy and battery storage. NRG serves wholesale and retail energy markets, with operations and customers primarily in the United States and Canada.

Through retail brands including Reliant and Direct Energy, NRG provides electricity, natural gas and related energy products to residential, commercial and industrial customers.