Trexquant Investment LP Takes $5.25 Million Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 58,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,247,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,126,000 after buying an additional 24,062 shares during the period. Luxor Capital Group LP boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 47.8% in the third quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 520,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,426,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,557,000 after acquiring an additional 10,031 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,340,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 10.1 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $83.38 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.11 and a twelve month high of $117.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.23 and a 200-day moving average of $96.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 35.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on NRG. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $129.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

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.