Wells Fargo & Company Boosts NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $165.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 44.99% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.29.

NRG Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

NRG stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.80. 826,977 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,977,448. The company has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.37. NRG Energy has a 12 month low of $52.96 and a 12 month high of $117.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 74.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in NRG Energy by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently 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.