First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $661,000 Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 76.1% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NRG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 163,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NRG Energy Trading Down 3.6 %

NRG stock opened at $86.72 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $86.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.95. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $41.73 and a one year high of $96.40. The stock has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 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 firm had revenue of $6.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.4075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is presently 17.76%.

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.