UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 182,438 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,223,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 182,438 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.60% of NRG Energy worth $110,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 period. Appaloosa LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $163,749,000 after buying an additional 815,180 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 worth $127,614,000 after buying an additional 56,944 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 41,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.75.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:NRG traded down $1.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $156.66. The stock had a trading volume of 3,850,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,025,912. The stock has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.36, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $113.51 and its 200 day moving average is $103.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.11 and a fifty-two week high of $161.78.

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, 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 company had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. NRG Energy's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy's payout ratio is 28.39%.

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.