NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) CFO Sells $1,938,682.48 in Stock

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total value of $1,938,682.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Bruce Chung also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 6th, Bruce Chung sold 7,617 shares of NRG Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.79, for a total value of $1,209,503.43.

NRG Energy Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of NRG stock opened at $149.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.99. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.57 and a 1-year high of $180.54. The firm has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.25.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 103.57%. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.31%.

NRG Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to repurchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 113.3% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,921,000 after buying an additional 767,014 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 492.5% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,918,000 after acquiring an additional 734,624 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Press International Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth about $98,360,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 4,470.7% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 614,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,521,000 after purchasing an additional 601,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $85,951,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NRG shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.21.

NRG Energy Company Profile

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.