NRG Energy (NRG) closed at $99.64 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.4% move from the prior day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.33%.

The power company's stock has dropped by 12.59% in the past month, falling short of the Utilities sector's gain of 1% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.48%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of NRG Energy in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.91, up 13.75% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $3.11 billion, indicating a 58.14% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.28 per share and revenue of $23.03 billion. These totals would mark changes of +9.64% and -18.15%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for NRG Energy. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.69% higher. NRG Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, NRG Energy is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.49. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.23, which means NRG Energy is trading at a discount to the group.

It's also important to note that NRG currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.19. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Utility - Electric Power industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.67.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, placing it within the top 30% of over 250 industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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