Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 25.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,097 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $5,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in NRG Energy by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.91.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $172.60 on Tuesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The company has a market cap of $37.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.93.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 28.40%.

NRG Energy declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to buy up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the sale, the vice president owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446 over the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.