Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,126,000 after purchasing an additional 24,062 shares during the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 520,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,426,000 after purchasing an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,557,000 after buying an additional 10,031 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Hawaii increased its holdings in NRG Energy by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 15,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 7,662 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy 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 sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.14.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $105.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.12 and a 12 month high of $117.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.63. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.22%.

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.