NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Holdings Boosted by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,821 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of NRG Energy worth $31,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was 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 directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’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 approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $95.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.69. The company has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.11 and a twelve month high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.29.

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.