AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases New Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 123,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,936,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aviva PLC raised its position in NRG Energy by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 155,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,953,000 after purchasing an additional 13,757 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 68.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 251,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,364,000 after acquiring an additional 101,922 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the second quarter worth about $418,000. Trek Financial LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,368,000. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,268,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NRG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.91.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total value of $9,796,391.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. The trade was a 39.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $153.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $158.48 and its 200 day moving average is $159.80. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $180.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.