Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,414,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,944 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $127,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NRG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in NRG Energy by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in NRG Energy by 414.9% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 221.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $83.38 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.11 and a 52 week high of $117.26. The stock has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim raised their target price on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.