Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG)

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $82.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

NRG has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of NRG Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.75.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $81.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.67. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $36.61 and a 1-year high of $87.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The business had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 23.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy in the second quarter worth about $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NRG Energy

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.