EP Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $636,000 in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $217,671,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 32,962.3% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,901,000 after buying an additional 1,049,521 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at $53,773,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 65.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,318,000 after acquiring an additional 633,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 352.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,317,000 after acquiring an additional 627,121 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NRG. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.71.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $95.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.60 and a 1 year high of $103.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $92.89 and a 200-day moving average of $84.59. The company has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.12.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,151,688. This trade represents a 38.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

About NRG Energy

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.