Oppenheimer Has Outperform Rating On NRG Energy

Oppenheimer & Co. has an Outperform rating and a $23 price target on shares of NRG Energy, Inc. NRG. In a note sent to investors Oppenheimer writes, "We are upgrading NRG Energy to Outperform from Perform, with our $23 price target unchanged. In our view, a fair value trading range for the stock is $19-26, as stated in our last report, dated November 18, 2010. The stock is now trading below this range and represents 23% upside to our target. At the current price, we find NRG attractive as its long-term prospects remain manageable, particularly as we see forward natural gas and power price curves firming up; this should alleviate some of the near-term risk. Longer term, we continue to believe the financial fear around the STP 3&4 nuclear expansion project, while real, is somewhat overstated." Shares of NRG are up 20 cents in pre-market trading to $18.90.