Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,848 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $4,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the second quarter worth $28,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $158.15 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. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.57 and a 1 year high of $180.54. The firm has a market cap of $30.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.78.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted 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 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value 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. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NRG. Zacks Research lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy 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.