NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Stake Reduced by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming lowered its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 47.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,563 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter worth $37,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.91.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:NRG opened at $152.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $29.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79 and a beta of 1.27. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $158.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.00. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $180.54.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. 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 26.31%.

NRG Energy announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This represents a 41.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total transaction of $9,796,391.80. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,053,422.19. This represents a 39.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.