In the latest trading session, NRG Energy (NRG) closed at $36.59, marking a +1.89% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.15%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.63%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 7.23%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the power company had gained 5.8% over the past month. This has outpaced the Utilities sector's gain of 2.15% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.08% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from NRG Energy as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, NRG Energy is projected to report earnings of $1.30 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 293.94%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.57 billion, down 37.25% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.55 per share and revenue of $25.54 billion. These totals would mark changes of +73.66% and -19.03%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for NRG Energy. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of 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. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 15.13% lower within the past month. NRG Energy currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, NRG Energy is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.9. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.5.

It is also worth noting that NRG currently has a PEG ratio of 1.47. 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. NRG's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.85 as of yesterday's close.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, which puts it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Source: finance.yahoo.com