Boston Partners Makes New $94.35 Million Investment in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Boston Partners acquired a new position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,045,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $94,346,000. Boston Partners owned about 0.52% of NRG Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,057 shares during the last quarter. Appaloosa LP increased its stake in NRG Energy by 81.5% in the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,679,000. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in NRG Energy by 352.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,317,000 after acquiring an additional 627,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in NRG Energy by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,227,000 after acquiring an additional 456,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NRG shares. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG opened at $94.57 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $102.07 and a 200 day moving average of $94.70. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.84 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

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 $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a boost 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 currently 35.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value 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 $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. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Profile

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.