Guggenheim Increases NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $118.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Guggenheim from $77.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 33.27% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.25.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $88.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.10. NRG Energy has a 1 year low of $39.47 and a 1 year high of $96.40.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. The business had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total value of $8,244,151.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 357,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,489,000 after purchasing an additional 172,400 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 885.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,073,000 after buying an additional 213,347 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in NRG Energy by 784.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 10,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 9,678 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 148.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 21,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 13,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 104.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,000,000 after acquiring an additional 37,750 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is 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.