NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $2,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 10,483.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 661,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,132,000 after buying an additional 655,098 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,881,000. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in NRG Energy by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,185,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,944,000 after purchasing an additional 380,564 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 677,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,161,000 after purchasing an additional 368,473 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,943,000 after purchasing an additional 316,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin Howell sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.50, for a total value of $7,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 55,427 shares in the company, valued at $8,563,471.50. This represents a 47.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on NRG shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $138.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $129.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on NRG Energy from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $160.30.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.1%

NRG stock opened at $151.97 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.11 and a 12-month high of $168.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $154.57 and its 200 day moving average is $119.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. The stock has a market cap of $29.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $1.90. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 73.78% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About NRG Energy

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.