NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Holdings Cut by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 124,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,107 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $6,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,696,000 after purchasing an additional 156,974 shares during the last quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP now owns 5,326,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,142,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,483,000 after purchasing an additional 64,942 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,356,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,899,000 after purchasing an additional 891,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,401,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,502,000 after purchasing an additional 197,122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NRG opened at $73.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.09 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.02. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.52 and a 52-week high of $76.11.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -152.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.50.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.