LSV Asset Management Reduces Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

LSV Asset Management decreased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,800,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 947,088 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $248,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth $118,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in NRG Energy by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 305,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,816,000 after buying an additional 136,968 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 486.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 900,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,688,000 after acquiring an additional 746,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,696,000 after acquiring an additional 156,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NRG traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.65. The company had a trading volume of 4,253,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,201,576. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.43. The firm has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.63 and a beta of 1.11. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.52 and a 1-year high of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.02.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. Research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -152.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.