Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Invests $1.15 Million in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,145,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at $10,147,939.20. This trade represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846 in the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of NRG stock opened at $149.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $180.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $162.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.29. The company has a market capitalization of $28.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.31%.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.