NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Shares Sold by Penserra Capital Management LLC

Penserra Capital Management LLC lessened its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,464 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 468.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,757,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $454,173,000 after buying an additional 6,049,247 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 772.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,342,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876,235 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 169.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,817,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771,829 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $93,075,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 289.1% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,023,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,672,000 after acquiring an additional 760,201 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $198.31.

NRG Energy Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NRG opened at $162.66 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.39. The company has a market capitalization of $31.46 billion, a PE ratio of 73.60 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (NYSE:NRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.31%.

NRG Energy announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to repurchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares in the company, valued at $7,528,505. The trade was a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.