Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Invests $864,000 in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in NRG Energy by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 5.1% in the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $152.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $180.54. The company has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.00.

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

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.