Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 368,473 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 119.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 677,894 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 368,473 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.33% of NRG Energy worth $61,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP increased 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 valued at $163,749,000 after buying an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 4.2% during the 4th 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. 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 valued at $123,984,000 after acquiring an additional 41,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

NRG stock traded up $2.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $116.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,207,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,025,204. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.11 and a 12 month high of $117.87. The business's 50 day moving average price is $97.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.42. The company has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. NRG Energy's payout ratio is 35.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $124.00.

NRG Energy Company 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.