NatWest Group plc Reduces Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

NatWest Group plc reduced its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 28.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,593 shares during the period. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $5,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 15.3% in the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 0.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 686,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,544,000 after buying an additional 2,956 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 101.4% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in NRG Energy by 17.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 283,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,089,000 after acquiring an additional 41,987 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Stock Down 6.6%

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $149.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $180.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $166.74 and a 200 day moving average of $159.82.

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

NRG Energy declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. UBS Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research lowered NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Melius began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.21.

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.