1,309 Shares in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Purchased by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter worth about $272,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 355.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 183,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,482,000 after purchasing an additional 38,003 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at $835,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 7.3% during the second quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 69,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,222,000 after purchasing an additional 4,729 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $308.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.31.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,654,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $166.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.19 and a beta of 1.16. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $180.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.55.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.31%.

NRG Energy declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to buy up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.