Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 70,685 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,450,147 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 70,685 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.64% of NRG Energy worth $74,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,005.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NRG. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE NRG traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $73.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,158,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,609,367. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.13 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.52 and a 1-year high of $76.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $65.61 and its 200-day moving average is $54.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. On average, analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently -152.34%.

Insider Activity

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.