Leavell Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Key Financial Inc bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.46.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.9%

NRG Energy stock opened at $170.12 on Monday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $175.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $159.24 and its 200 day moving average is $148.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a PE ratio of 76.98 and a beta of 1.14.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.37 EPS. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 79.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,654,160.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,528,505. This represents a 18.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.