SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 17,554 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 119.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,554 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $5,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 19.1% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 6,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter worth $295,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in NRG Energy by 100.9% during the 3rd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,462 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846 over the last three months. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $149.61 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $180.54. The firm has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $162.87 and a 200 day moving average of $160.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Two 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.