Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 43,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,969,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 468.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,757,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $454,173,000 after purchasing an additional 6,049,247 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 772.5% during the first 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 period. Boston Partners increased its holdings 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 valued at $269,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771,829 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 12.9% in the first quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 2,050,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $195,693,000 after buying an additional 235,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,481,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,388,000 after purchasing an additional 372,618 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $168.50 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $180.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99. The firm has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a PE ratio of 76.24 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.48.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its 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 business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd 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 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to buy up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. 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 assigned 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.