Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 43.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 108,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,091 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $17,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 468.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,757,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $454,173,000 after purchasing an additional 6,049,247 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in NRG Energy by 772.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 4,378,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,342,000 after buying an additional 3,876,235 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 169.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,817,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771,829 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter worth about $93,075,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 289.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,023,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,672,000 after acquiring an additional 760,201 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $166.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.88. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $180.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $166.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.29. The company has a market cap of $31.95 billion, a PE ratio of 75.45 and a beta of 1.16.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 88.22%. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.31%.

NRG Energy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NRG shares. Zacks Research lowered NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $197.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.82, for a total value of $3,276,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,075,549.62. This trade represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Dak Liyanearachchi sold 10,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,654,160.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 48,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,528,505. This trade represents a 18.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.