NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 83.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 37,197 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 305,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,816,000 after acquiring an additional 136,968 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $743,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 486.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 900,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,688,000 after acquiring an additional 746,899 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,729,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,696,000 after acquiring an additional 156,974 shares during the period. Finally, Covalis Capital LLP increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 506,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,512,000 after acquiring an additional 96,386 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

NRG stock opened at $73.66 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.52 and a 52-week high of $76.54. The firm has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.84 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -152.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NRG. Citigroup increased their price target on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

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.