Highland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Highland Capital Management LLC reduced its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $4,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $217,671,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 253.2% in the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 1,766,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,541,000 after buying an additional 1,266,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 11.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,610,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,007,000 after acquiring an additional 160,415 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 65.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,318,000 after acquiring an additional 633,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 1st quarter worth $64,306,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.25.

NRG Energy Trading Down 2.0 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $87.52 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.49 and a 52-week high of $96.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.43.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $1.82. The business had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 23.09%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total value of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.