Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 4,470.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 614,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 601,079 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $99,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in NRG Energy by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 0.1%

NRG opened at $144.15 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $180.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $156.78 and a 200 day moving average of $159.80. The firm has a market cap of $30.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 1.27.

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

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.40%.

NRG Energy declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About NRG Energy

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.