Vestcor Inc Purchases 7,583 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Vestcor Inc grew its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,583 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 0.7% in the second 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 period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position 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 period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,225,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,442,000 after purchasing an additional 86,528 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 975,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,601,000 after purchasing an additional 19,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 36.4% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NRG. Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.33.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total value of $9,796,391.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. This represents a 39.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 4.2%

NYSE:NRG opened at $148.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.26. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $189.96. 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 50 day moving average of $159.41 and a 200 day moving average of $161.67.

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

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.