Horizon Investment Services LLC Decreases Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Horizon Investment Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 73.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,581 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,921,000 after purchasing an additional 767,014 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 492.5% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after purchasing an additional 734,624 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in NRG Energy by 4,470.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 614,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,521,000 after purchasing an additional 601,079 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 673,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,095,000 after buying an additional 313,482 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 529,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,036,000 after buying an additional 246,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $144.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 1.27. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $180.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $157.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results 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 company 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%. NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 28.40%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $7,075,549.62. This represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This trade represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846 in the last 90 days. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.