Swiss National Bank Sells 23,300 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 717,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.32% of NRG Energy worth $37,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NRG. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 1,005.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.50.

NRG Energy Stock Down 5.8 %

NRG stock opened at $73.40 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.62 and a 52 week high of $83.03. The company has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.03.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. On average, research analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -152.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.