NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG Position Reduced by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 34.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,367 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 0.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,411,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $865,437,000 after buying an additional 39,253 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in NRG Energy by 113.3% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,444,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,921,000 after acquiring an additional 767,014 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 975,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,601,000 after acquiring an additional 19,997 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 887,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,501,000 after acquiring an additional 237,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 492.5% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 883,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,918,000 after purchasing an additional 734,624 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Trading Up 2.0%

NRG Energy stock opened at $152.02 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 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 firm has a market capitalization of $29.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.02.

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 company had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 28.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 63,920 shares in the company, valued at $10,147,939.20. This represents a 41.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total transaction of $9,796,391.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,053,422.19. This trade represents a 39.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NRG Energy from $198.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.91.

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.