Navellier & Associates Inc. Raises Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $2,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,126,000 after buying an additional 24,062 shares in the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 520,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,426,000 after buying an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,557,000 after buying an additional 10,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 15,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 7,662 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.71.

Insider Activity

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

NRG Energy Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE NRG opened at $105.96 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.49 and a 12 month high of $115.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $100.59 and a 200-day moving average of $92.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.22%.

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.