Vestcor Inc Decreases Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,257 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after purchasing an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,828,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,142,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after buying an additional 182,481 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after buying an additional 1,417,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,227,000 after buying an additional 456,573 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

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

NRG Energy Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $95.38 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.84 and a 52-week high of $117.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.53. The company has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NRG. Guggenheim lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

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.