Benjamin Edwards Inc. Trims Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 350.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 904,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,583,000 after buying an additional 703,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,679,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.38.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $119.25 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.11 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $99.45 and a 200-day moving average of $98.69.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 35.92%.

NRG Energy Company 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.