Gotham Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management cut its stake in NRG by 32.4% in Q3 to 216,402 shares (about $35.05M), selling 103,843 shares during the quarter.
• Several other institutions made large moves—Holocene Advisors (+113% to 1.44M shares), Worldquant Millennium (+492% to 883,781 shares), Bessemer (+4,470%) and new large stakes from Consolidated Press and Merewether—leaving 97.72% institutional ownership.
• Recent company developments: NRG missed EPS ($1.04 vs. $1.19) but beat revenue ($7.75B vs. $6.68B); insiders sold 172,556 shares (~$27.55M) in the past 90 days, and the quarterly dividend was raised to $0.475 (annualized $1.90, ~1.2% yield).

Gotham Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 103,843 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of NRG Energy worth $35,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 113.3% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $231,921,000 after buying an additional 767,014 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 492.5% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $141,918,000 after acquiring an additional 734,624 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Press International Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,360,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 4,470.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 614,524 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,521,000 after purchasing an additional 601,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,951,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research raised NRG Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They set a "buy" rating and a $197.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $196.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This represents a 41.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 46,113 shares in the company, valued at $7,324,588.92. This trade represents a 50.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $152.75 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $159.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.77 and a beta of 1.26. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $189.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.22%.

NRG Energy Profile

NRG Energy NYSE: NRG is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG's generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.

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