Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 166,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,112 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $26,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in NRG Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 4.7% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 19.8% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 7.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NRG. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $232.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. One equities 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.43.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG opened at $151.00 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.57 and a 1-year high of $189.96. The stock has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.13. 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 quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 48.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. The trade was a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.65, for a total transaction of $783,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 55,495 shares in the company, valued at $8,693,291.75. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.