Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 44,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,199,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC raised its position in NRG Energy by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 46,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $151.11 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $180.54. The stock has a market cap of $28.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The company had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to buy up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NRG. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research cut NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $198.00 price target on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.45.

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.