Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,179 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in NRG Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,481,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in NRG Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in NRG Energy by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG stock opened at $100.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $102.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.08. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.11 and a 52-week high of $117.26.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NRG. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.