Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,337 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in NRG Energy were worth $51,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth about $37,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.45.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total transaction of $3,276,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total transaction of $9,796,391.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. This trade represents a 39.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $151.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.25. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.57 and a 1-year high of $180.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $159.68 and its 200 day moving average is $159.79.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 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 firm had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.