Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 587 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in NRG Energy by 74.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in NRG Energy by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in NRG Energy by 414.9% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NRG. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

NRG Energy Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $95.38 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.84 and a 12-month high of $117.26. The company has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.43.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.