Morgan Stanley Boosts NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $63.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $51.00 to $63.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NRG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TheStreet raised shares of NRG Energy from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $59.50.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE NRG opened at $67.69 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.52. The stock has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.11. NRG Energy has a 12-month low of $30.52 and a 12-month high of $68.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. On average, analysts forecast that NRG Energy will post 5.66 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -152.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 12,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 9,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.