First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 242.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,540 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,828,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $255,142,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,943,000 after acquiring an additional 316,445 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $163,749,000 after acquiring an additional 815,180 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,414,186 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,614,000 after acquiring an additional 56,944 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,374,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,984,000 after purchasing an additional 41,094 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 55,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,563,471.50. This trade represents a 47.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started 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. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.80.

NRG Energy Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $158.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.02. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.11 and a 1 year high of $168.57. The firm's 50-day moving average is $147.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.84. The stock has a market cap of $31.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.13.

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

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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