NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) VP Brian Curci Sells 46,976 Shares

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Brian Curci also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 5th, Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of NRG Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total transaction of $9,796,391.80.

NRG Energy Stock Down 1.2%

NRG Energy stock traded down $1.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $159.61. 2,038,562 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,689,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $30.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.75 and a 200 day moving average of $160.36. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $180.54.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.21.

Institutional Trading of NRG Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.