Yahoo Finance NRG Energy (NRG) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
NRG Energy (NRG) closed the most recent trading day at $34.82, moving +1.19% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.36%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.01%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.91%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the power company had gained 1.41% over the past month. This has lagged the Utilities sector's gain of 5.8% and outpaced the S&P 500's gain of 1.24% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from NRG Energy as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.08, down 132% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $7.97 billion, up 0.91% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.54 per share and revenue of $25.76 billion. These totals would mark changes of +73.28% and -18.34%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for NRG Energy. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.12% lower. NRG Energy is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Investors should also note NRG Energy's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 7.59. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 17.82.
Also, we should mention that NRG has a PEG ratio of 1.17. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Utility - Electric Power was holding an average PEG ratio of 3 at yesterday's closing price.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 151, which puts it in the bottom 41% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
