NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Shares Sold by Virtus Advisers LLC

Virtus Advisers LLC reduced its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 94.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,769 shares during the quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 468.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,757,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $454,173,000 after buying an additional 6,049,247 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in NRG Energy by 772.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,342,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876,235 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in NRG Energy by 169.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,817,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771,829 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at about $93,075,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 289.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,023,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,672,000 after purchasing an additional 760,201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.31.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $168.57 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.30 billion, a PE ratio of 76.28 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $167.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.22. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $180.54.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy 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.