Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Invests $263,000 in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 23.8% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 99.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 413,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,512,000 after purchasing an additional 206,096 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in NRG Energy by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 2,484 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 44,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,220,000 after buying an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $835,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,654,160.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NRG opened at $172.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The firm has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a PE ratio of 77.90 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.21.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Melius Research started coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $308.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $198.31.

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.