Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd Takes $27 Million Position in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 166,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,003,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,411,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $865,437,000 after buying an additional 39,253 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 975,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,601,000 after acquiring an additional 19,997 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 36.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 887,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,501,000 after purchasing an additional 237,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $144.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 1.27. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.57 and a fifty-two week high of $180.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.45.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.78 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 the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 103.57% and a net margin of 4.84%.NRG Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.40%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,254.32. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. This trade represents a 39.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 192,556 shares of company stock worth $30,826,846. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.