Savant Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1,005.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.0 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $76.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.52 and a 1 year high of $77.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.34.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently -152.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NRG. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.50.

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.