Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $867,000 Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 9,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $867,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy during the third quarter worth $43,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 414.9% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 221.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $100.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. 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 one year low of $65.11 and a one year high of $117.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.12 and its 200-day moving average is $94.97.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. The trade was a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NRG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.