CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Purchases 153,239 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 168.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 244,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 153,239 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $39,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at about $4,334,000. WBI Investments LLC grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 196.0% during the 3rd quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 7,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 5,083 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in NRG Energy by 304.9% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Maven Securities LTD increased its position in NRG Energy by 156.1% during the 3rd quarter. Maven Securities LTD now owns 15,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 9,211 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NRG. 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 on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.43.

NRG Energy Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $159.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. The company has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.93. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.57 and a 52-week high of $189.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.65, for a total value of $783,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 55,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,693,291.75. This trade represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 177,556 shares of company stock worth $28,333,696 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy 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.