Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 870,601 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,000,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 870,601 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 3.26% of NRG Energy worth $1,114,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NRG. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,817,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 492.5% during 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. Consolidated Press International Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,360,000. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,951,000. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,415,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NRG. Morgan Stanley set a $162.00 target price on NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wolfe Research raised NRG Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered NRG Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $210.00 target price on NRG Energy in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.65, for a total transaction of $783,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 55,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,693,291.75. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $129.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $146.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.17. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $121.22 and a one year high of $189.96. The firm has a market cap of $27.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 152.07 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.30). NRG Energy had a net margin of 0.74% and a return on equity of 70.67%. The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. NRG Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-9.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 8.98 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 223.53%.

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.