Boston Partners Reduces Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Boston Partners lessened its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 57.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,192,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,624,957 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.62% of NRG Energy worth $191,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NRG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 83,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,002,000 after purchasing an additional 21,351 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 47.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 29.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 92,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,839,000 after buying an additional 21,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 5.3% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 74,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,126,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,528,505. The trade was a 18.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on NRG. Wall Street Zen cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $308.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.31.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NRG opened at $168.61 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The firm has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.29 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to buy up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 26.31%.

NRG Energy 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.