Renaissance Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Renaissance Group LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 3,550.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 206,389 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC owned 0.11% of NRG Energy worth $34,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 90.4% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research cut NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.91.

NRG Energy Trading Up 6.1%

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $153.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91 and a beta of 1.27. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week 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.

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

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

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

NRG Energy 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.