Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 85,445 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 13.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 737,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 85,445 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $107,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Virginia Kinney sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.52, for a total transaction of $2,550,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 45,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,752,554.72. This trade represents a 30.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.4%

NRG opened at $137.81 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.11 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $29.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.13 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.67 and a 200-day moving average of $150.00.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.30). NRG Energy had a net margin of 0.74% and a return on equity of 70.67%. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. NRG Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-9.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 223.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $184.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial set a $210.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, April 27th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $232.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $203.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price objective on NRG Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.73.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG’s generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.