Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $120,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after buying an additional 313,478 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,828,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,142,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 7.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after buying an additional 182,481 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after buying an additional 815,180 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after buying an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.29.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE NRG opened at $100.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.11 and a 12 month high of $117.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $102.12 and its 200 day moving average is $94.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57.

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 issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. 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. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 35.92%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

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

NRG Energy 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.