Korea Investment CORP Acquires 32,672 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,672 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.14% of NRG Energy worth $44,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,411,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $865,437,000 after acquiring an additional 39,253 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 113.3% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,921,000 after purchasing an additional 767,014 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 975,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,601,000 after purchasing an additional 19,997 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 887,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,501,000 after purchasing an additional 237,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 492.5% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after purchasing an additional 734,624 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NRG. 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. Evercore initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total value of $7,461,667.84. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of NRG stock opened at $154.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. The firm has a market cap of $33.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.24 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.84 and a 200-day moving average of $161.62. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $189.96.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. NRG Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.22%.

About NRG Energy

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.