NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Bought by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NRG. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in NRG Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,689,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 76.1% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in NRG Energy by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 16,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NRG opened at $81.32 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.61 and a fifty-two week high of $87.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.31 and its 200-day moving average is $75.85.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 43.69% and a net margin of 7.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total value of $8,244,151.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NRG. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.75.

NRG Energy Company 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.