Morningstar Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,517 NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NRG Energy Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NRG opened at $165.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.34. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $175.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.63 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 88.22% and a net margin of 1.78%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NRG shares. Melius started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $308.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $133.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $167.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.