Horizon Investment Services LLC Decreases Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Horizon Investment Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 13.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 23.8% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 99.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 413,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,512,000 after acquiring an additional 206,096 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 32.7% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,484 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 44,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,220,000 after buying an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in NRG Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,733,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $168.89 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $180.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $163.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.28. The company has a market capitalization of $32.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.42 and a beta of 1.16.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%.The company had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.64%.

NRG Energy announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to repurchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on NRG Energy from $145.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Melius initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,528,505. The trade was a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.