Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 91,826 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG – Get Rating) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,785,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,826 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.80% of NRG Energy worth $1,216,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 427,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,396,000 after buying an additional 24,792 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 229,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,243,000 after buying an additional 14,574 shares during the period. 99.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $31.63 on Monday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.64 and a twelve month high of $47.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.77. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 6.25, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 1st were issued a $0.3775 dividend. This represents a $1.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 31st. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 29.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mauricio Gutierrez purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.03 per share, with a total value of $480,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,111,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,597,117.04. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other NRG Energy news, Director Antonio Carrillo bought 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.71 per share, with a total value of $285,390.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,312.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mauricio Gutierrez bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.03 per share, for a total transaction of $480,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,111,368 shares in the company, valued at $35,597,117.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. UBS Group downgraded NRG Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. TheStreet downgraded NRG Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded NRG Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $38.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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NRG Energy, Inc engages in the production, sale, and distribution of energy and energy services. It operates through the following segments: Generation, Retail, and Corporate. The Generation segment includes all power plant activities, domestic and international, as well as renewables. The Retail segment includes mass customers and business solutions, and other distributed and reliability products.