Achmea Investment Management B.V. Sells 71,495 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 32.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 71,495 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. owned 0.07% of NRG Energy worth $13,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 221.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays set a $197.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $129.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total value of $7,725,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,563,471.50. This trade represents a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:NRG opened at $162.79 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.11 and a 52 week high of $168.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $141.87 and a 200 day moving average of $113.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $1.90. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.28 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 73.78%. NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.39%.

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.