Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,709,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,322 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $295,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NRG. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in NRG Energy by 8.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,401,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,502,000 after purchasing an additional 197,122 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 105.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,346,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,642,000 after buying an additional 689,941 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 91.6% in the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,318,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,770,000 after acquiring an additional 629,993 shares during the last quarter. Maven Securities LTD grew its position in NRG Energy by 72.5% in the third quarter. Maven Securities LTD now owns 1,037,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,956,000 after acquiring an additional 436,046 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 3,477.2% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 976,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,618,000 after acquiring an additional 949,289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE NRG traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.85. The company had a trading volume of 3,259,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,630,697. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $83.03. The company has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a PE ratio of -71.22 and a beta of 1.11. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.03.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. NRG Energy had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.70%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. On average, analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -152.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NRG Energy from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley increased 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 report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $73.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.