Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 242,010 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 32.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 992,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 242,010 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of NRG Energy worth $94,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 352,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,646,000 after buying an additional 16,635 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 48.6% during the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $129.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their price target on 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 initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $197.00 price target on NRG Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.30.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NRG traded up $4.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $151.97. 3,408,409 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,972,289. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.11 and a 1-year high of $168.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $154.57 and a 200-day moving average of $119.73.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $1.90. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 73.78% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm 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 firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total value of $7,725,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 55,427 shares in the company, valued at $8,563,471.50. This trade represents a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.