Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 323 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in NRG Energy by 350.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 904,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,583,000 after acquiring an additional 703,481 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $61,679,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $95.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.11 and a 12-month high of $117.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.75 and its 200-day moving average is $95.57.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NRG. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % 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, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.