Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 5,596 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,596 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $10,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Donald L. Hagan LLC lifted its position in NRG Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 4.7% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its position in NRG Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $149.97 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $180.54. The firm has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.45.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at $10,147,939.20. The trade was a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total transaction of $9,796,391.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. This trade represents a 39.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Profile

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.