National Pension Service Decreases Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

National Pension Service trimmed its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 538,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,058 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.27% of NRG Energy worth $48,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth $26,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 74.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth $43,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. The trade was a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG stock opened at $105.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.46. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.96 and a 12-month high of $117.26. 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 has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 44.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.14.

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.