AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Makes New $19.94 Million Investment in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 123,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,936,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.06% of NRG Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in NRG Energy by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Evercore began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price target on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.67.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $161.73 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $189.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $34.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.39.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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 1.2%. 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of NRG Energy 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. This trade represents a 50.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.