StockNews.com Upgrades NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) to Buy

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of 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 upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.14.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

NRG Energy stock traded up $2.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,767,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,560,634. The stock has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. NRG Energy has a 1-year low of $35.97 and a 1-year high of $87.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.55.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total transaction of $2,047,381.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 266,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,192,398.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $217,671,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 253.2% in the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 1,766,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 11.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,610,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,007,000 after purchasing an additional 160,415 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in NRG Energy by 65.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,318,000 after purchasing an additional 633,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

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.