Bank of Nova Scotia Has $1.60 Million Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 26.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,898 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 44.0% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 655 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In related news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total transaction of $7,725,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 55,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,563,471.50. This represents a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $162.70.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $152.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,574,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,263,281. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day moving average is $155.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 1.02. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.13 and a 52 week high of $175.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last released its 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). NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.64%.

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.