NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Acquired by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 298.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,126,000 after buying an additional 24,062 shares during the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 47.8% during the third quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 520,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,426,000 after buying an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 25.1% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,557,000 after buying an additional 10,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $1,340,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $129.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NRG stock opened at $87.16 on Tuesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.11 and a 1 year high of $117.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.32.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 35.92%.

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.