WBI Investments LLC Has $1.24 Million Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

WBI Investments LLC boosted its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 196.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,083 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $323,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 7.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 17,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 4,949 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NRG. Evercore initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.85.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG opened at $154.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.27 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 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 fifty day simple moving average of $158.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.95.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current 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 1.2%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 48.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, 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 value of $1,938,682.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,147,939.20. This trade represents a 41.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.