Janus Henderson Group PLC Trims Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 33.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 711,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 365,291 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $48,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 253.2% during the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 1,766,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 81.4% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 962,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,180,000 after acquiring an additional 432,080 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,448,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,131,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 885.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,073,000 after acquiring an additional 213,347 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NRG Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NRG stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.33. 1,628,963 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,540,709. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.97 and a fifty-two week high of $87.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 1.08.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.12). NRG Energy had a return on equity of 42.60% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $7.43 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 24,546 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.41, for a total value of $2,047,381.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 266,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,192,398.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.14.

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.