StockNews.com Downgrades NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) to Hold

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

NRG has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.14.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $82.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.66. NRG Energy has a 52 week low of $36.30 and a 52 week high of $87.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.08.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 42.60%. The business had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that NRG Energy will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter worth about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 76.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 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.