Andra AP fonden Purchases 45,600 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Andra AP fonden raised its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,600 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden owned 0.07% of NRG Energy worth $21,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $240,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 4.4% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in NRG Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,158,000 after purchasing an additional 18,179 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 305.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 195,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,684,000 after buying an additional 147,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NRG shares. Zacks Research upgraded NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Evercore started coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NRG opened at $178.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $189.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.39 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.07.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.475 dividend. 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 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 48.22%.

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

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.