Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $15.08 Million Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,825 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $15,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,679,000. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in NRG Energy by 352.9% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,317,000 after acquiring an additional 627,121 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in NRG Energy by 52.2% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,227,000 after acquiring an additional 456,573 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG opened at $92.40 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.14 and a 52-week high of $117.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.30.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.