NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.44

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41.

NRG Energy has decreased its dividend by an average of 2.7% per year over the last three years. NRG Energy has a payout ratio of 21.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect NRG Energy to earn $7.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.5%.

NRG Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

NRG opened at $102.65 on Friday. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $51.26 and a fifty-two week high of $115.38. The company has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.43.

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.