Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,337 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 76.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.71.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock opened at $98.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.23 and a 12-month high of $102.84. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.37.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.95%.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. This represents a 38.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.