Osaic Holdings Inc. Acquires 38,524 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 67.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,524 shares during the quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $15,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 772.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,342,000 after purchasing an additional 3,876,235 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,921,000 after purchasing an additional 767,014 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 289.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,023,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,672,000 after buying an additional 760,201 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 492.5% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after buying an additional 734,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in NRG Energy by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,481,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,388,000 after buying an additional 372,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.21.

NRG Energy Stock Up 3.4%

NRG opened at $154.62 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.57 and a twelve month high of $180.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $166.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.79. The stock has a market cap of $29.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45.

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

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.