NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 179.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,740 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NRG. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.14.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NRG traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.91. 3,455,927 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,097,083. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The company has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.07. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.97 and a 12-month high of $87.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.18.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $7.43 billion during the quarter. NRG Energy had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 42.60%. Research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,047,381.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 266,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,192,398.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.