Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,336 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $390,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in NRG Energy by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 4,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 374,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,700,000 after purchasing an additional 50,643 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 16.5% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were 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 owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,075,549.62. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at $10,147,939.20. The trade was a 41.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG stock opened at $155.20 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $158.62 and a 200-day moving average of $159.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.25. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $180.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Zacks Research lowered NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. 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 target on the stock. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.91.

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.