NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 34.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,367 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $323,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 17,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Up 2.0%

NRG stock opened at $152.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.02. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. 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 (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 28.40%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 46,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.61% 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.