Cerity Partners LLC Takes $317,000 Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter worth $41,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in NRG Energy by 1,005.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 35.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in NRG Energy by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NRG opened at $72.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of -68.05 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.52 and a 12-month high of $76.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.28.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. Research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -152.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

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.