Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 41,094 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,374,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,094 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $123,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% in the 4th 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in NRG Energy by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after purchasing an additional 182,481 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP lifted its stake in 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after buying an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NRG. StockNews.com lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.29.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG stock opened at $102.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $102.23 and a 200-day moving average of $95.25. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.11 and a 12-month high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.