NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Stake Increased by Vident Advisory LLC

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,611 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,442 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in NRG Energy were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Banco Santander S.A. increased 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 worth $255,142,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 worth $205,943,000 after buying an additional 316,445 shares during the last quarter. Appaloosa LP increased its stake in NRG Energy by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $163,749,000 after purchasing an additional 815,180 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,414,186 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,614,000 after purchasing an additional 56,944 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,374,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,984,000 after buying an additional 41,094 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. 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 for the company. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.75.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NYSE NRG opened at $161.22 on Tuesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.11 and a 52 week high of $161.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The stock has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $107.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.66.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $1.90. NRG Energy had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 48.96%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. NRG Energy's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.39%.

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.

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