ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,066 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $217,671,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 253.2% during the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 1,766,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,541,000 after buying an additional 1,266,000 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 1st quarter worth $64,306,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 65.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,318,000 after buying an additional 633,765 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at $43,134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on NRG shares. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.75.

NRG Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $90.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.10. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.61 and a fifty-two week high of $93.17. The firm has a market cap of $18.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The business had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.09%.

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.