Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NRG. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth $37,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 4,030.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1,005.5% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

NRG opened at $73.93 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $76.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.93. The company has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.09 and a beta of 1.13.

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

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -152.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

NRG Energy 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.