Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 38.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,043 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NRG. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,921,000 after buying an additional 767,014 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 492.5% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after acquiring an additional 734,624 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 673,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,095,000 after acquiring an additional 313,482 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 529,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,036,000 after purchasing an additional 246,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 36.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 887,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,501,000 after purchasing an additional 237,009 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.91.

NRG Energy Stock Down 1.0%

NRG Energy stock opened at $153.62 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $180.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.80.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 26.31%.

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

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. This represents a 50.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.