Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 563,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 53,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $91,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 7.6% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,225,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,442,000 after purchasing an additional 86,528 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at about $4,232,000. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 209.1% in the third quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 10,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 13.4% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 277,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,865,000 after acquiring an additional 32,672 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the sale, the vice president owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,324,588.92. This trade represents a 50.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.2%

NRG stock opened at $155.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.37 and a beta of 1.26. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $189.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.33.

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.