Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $266,000 in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NRG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after buying an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,679,000. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 352.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,317,000 after buying an additional 627,121 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in NRG Energy by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,227,000 after acquiring an additional 456,573 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,225,000 after acquiring an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE NRG opened at $91.17 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.40 and a 12 month high of $117.26. The company has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.29.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.