Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 323 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after purchasing an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,828,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $255,142,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 182,481 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP raised its stake in NRG Energy by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,749,000 after purchasing an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 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. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.29.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG Energy stock opened at $95.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.75 and a 200-day moving average of $95.57. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.11 and a 1 year high of $117.26. The company has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.92%.

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.