ING Groep NV Makes New Investment in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,390,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 12.1% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in NRG Energy by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NRG. Citigroup upped their target price on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total transaction of $7,725,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 55,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,563,471.50. The trade was a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG traded down $0.50 on Friday, reaching $152.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,574,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,324,011. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 0.93. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.13 and a 52-week high of $175.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.95. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.10, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.14.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.63 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a 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%.

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.