Swiss National Bank Sells 35,700 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 583,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 35,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $52,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,679,000. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 352.9% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,317,000 after buying an additional 627,121 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 52.2% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,227,000 after acquiring an additional 456,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on NRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock opened at $95.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.43. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.84 and a 12 month high of $117.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

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.