Appaloosa LP Raises Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Appaloosa LP increased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 81.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 815,180 shares during the period. NRG Energy makes up 2.5% of Appaloosa LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Appaloosa LP’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $163,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in NRG Energy by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in NRG Energy by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. The trade was a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $92.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $102.26 and its 200 day moving average is $94.30. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.14 and a 1 year high of $117.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

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.