Great Lakes Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 97.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 99,533 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in NRG Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 3.0% in the third quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 4.7% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NRG opened at $149.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $157.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.02. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $180.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 28.40%.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to repurchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total value of $9,796,391.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. This represents a 39.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.