NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Holdings Raised by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $2,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,921,000 after buying an additional 767,014 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 492.5% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after acquiring an additional 734,624 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 87.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 673,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,095,000 after acquiring an additional 313,482 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 87.2% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 529,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,036,000 after acquiring an additional 246,741 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 36.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 887,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,501,000 after purchasing an additional 237,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group began 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.91.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $144.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.80. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $180.54.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction 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 represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846 over the last 90 days. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.