Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,350,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 362,288 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.22% of NRG Energy worth $380,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NRG. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 3.0% in the third quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in NRG Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in NRG Energy by 4.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $160.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.76 and a beta of 1.26. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $79.57 and a one year high of $189.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $159.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.40.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

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

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 48.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 45,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.76, for a total value of $7,144,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 63,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,147,939.20. This represents a 41.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 172,556 shares of company stock worth $27,550,446 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NRG. Evercore started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 target price on NRG Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.67.

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.