Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,112 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned 0.09% of NRG Energy worth $26,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in NRG Energy by 90.4% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 3,714.3% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1,970.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. UBS Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of NRG Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $197.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.43.

NRG Energy Trading Down 0.1%

NRG opened at $151.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.57 and a 52 week high of $189.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.13. The firm has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.32 and a beta of 1.26.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 109.48%. NRG Energy’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Brian Curci sold 60,580 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.71, for a total value of $9,796,391.80. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 93,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,053,422.19. The trade was a 39.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Virginia Kinney sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.65, for a total transaction of $783,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 55,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,693,291.75. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,556 shares of company stock valued at $28,333,696. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.