American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

American Century Companies Inc. cut its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 54.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 137,521 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.06% of NRG Energy worth $18,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NRG. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in NRG Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,411,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $865,437,000 after purchasing an additional 39,253 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 767,014 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in NRG Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 975,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,601,000 after buying an additional 19,997 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in NRG Energy by 36.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 887,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,501,000 after buying an additional 237,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 492.5% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after buying an additional 734,624 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NRG. Evercore assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,556 shares of company stock worth $27,550,446. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG opened at $155.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.37 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.76. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $189.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.22%.

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.