NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG is Aventail Capital Group LP’s 3rd Largest Position

Aventail Capital Group LP lowered its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 439,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 84,400 shares during the quarter. NRG Energy comprises approximately 3.3% of Aventail Capital Group LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $71,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in NRG Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,880,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $790,471,000 after purchasing an additional 31,238 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in NRG Energy by 113.3% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,921,000 after purchasing an additional 767,014 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 42.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,368,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,671,000 after purchasing an additional 409,776 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,225,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,442,000 after buying an additional 86,528 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 975,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,601,000 after buying an additional 19,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $152.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $159.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.77. The firm has a market cap of $32.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.77 and a beta of 1.26.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NRG. UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Evercore began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.33.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares in the company, valued at $7,324,588.92. This represents a 50.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.