Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Invests $1.15 Million in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,145,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC increased its position in NRG Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in NRG Energy by 4.7% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in NRG Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NRG. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research cut NRG Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NRG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.21.

NRG Energy Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $149.61 on Monday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.29.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.85. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

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

NRG Energy declared that its board has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were 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 directly owned 43,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,075,549.62. The trade was a 31.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total transaction of $7,144,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,147,939.20. This trade represents a 41.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock valued at $30,826,846 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy 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.