Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 1,429.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 359,670 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 336,161 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of NRG Energy worth $34,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NRG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in NRG Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,713,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in NRG Energy by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 135,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,219,000 after purchasing an additional 10,866 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $546,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NRG Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $129.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total value of $7,725,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG Energy stock traded up $0.63 on Friday, reaching $167.83. The stock had a trading volume of 2,557,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,544,449. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.11 and a 1 year high of $169.24. The company has a market cap of $32.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. The business's 50 day moving average is $155.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.09.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $1.90. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.28 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 73.78%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.39%.

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.