NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Shares Down 5.2% – Time to Sell?

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) shares fell 5.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $159.72 and last traded at $159.0150. 1,040,575 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 2,548,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded NRG Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.29.

NRG Energy Stock Up 0.2%

The company has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 48.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.65, for a total value of $783,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 55,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,693,291.75. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in NRG Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,868,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,730,685,000 after acquiring an additional 234,666 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 178.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,676,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,222,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916,653 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in NRG Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $910,324,000 after purchasing an additional 82,162 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $790,471,000 after purchasing an additional 31,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $305,817,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.