NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Position Lessened by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. by 79.3%, from 11,364 shares to just 2,358 shares, after selling 9,006 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• NRG Energy reported a miss in earnings with an EPS of $1.68 vs. the expected $1.72, but its revenue was slightly better than expected at $6.74 billion, contributing to a 1.2% increase compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.76 and a yield of 1.1%, with a payout ratio of 79.64%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 79.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,006 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 153.9% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 100,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,600,000 after buying an additional 60,957 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in NRG Energy by 772.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $406,342,000 after buying an additional 3,876,235 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP raised its stake in NRG Energy by 12.9% during 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. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 10.7% during the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 53,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,108,000 after buying an additional 5,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,009,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays increased their price target on NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Melius Research began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $308.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $308.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NYSE NRG traded up $1.32 on Monday, reaching $166.16. 2,357,477 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,107,047. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $153.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99. The company has a market cap of $32.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.17. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $175.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.63 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.64%.

About NRG Energy

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.