Friedenthal Financial Increases Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Friedenthal Financial grew its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 24,613.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares during the quarter. Friedenthal Financial’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 9.7% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 155,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,953,000 after acquiring an additional 13,757 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 251,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,364,000 after purchasing an additional 101,922 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth $418,000. Trek Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at $3,368,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at $244,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 43,191 shares in the company, valued at $7,075,549.62. This represents a 31.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $158.00 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $180.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $166.00 and a 200 day moving average of $159.80.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 26.31%.

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.