Magnetar Financial LLC Increases Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 62.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,601 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $4,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $285,000. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in NRG Energy by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 14,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 7,583 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,225,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,442,000 after purchasing an additional 86,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. UBS Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,556 shares of company stock worth $27,550,446. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Down 4.2%

NRG opened at $148.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.67. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $189.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. 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.