Magnetar Financial LLC Boosts Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 62.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,601 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $4,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in NRG Energy by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its position in NRG Energy by 32.1% in the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Zacks Research upgraded NRG Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.33.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 63,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. The trade was a 41.31% decrease in their position. The sale 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 172,556 shares of company stock worth $27,550,446 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 4.2%

NYSE:NRG opened at $148.71 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $189.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.67. The firm has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.26.

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

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.22%.

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.