Argent Trust Co Sells 1,000 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Argent Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NRG. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $217,671,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 253.2% in the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 1,766,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,000 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the first quarter worth about $64,306,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 65.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 633,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in NRG Energy by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 837,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,205,000 after purchasing an additional 446,743 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total value of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 6.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $87.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.46 and its 200 day moving average is $76.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.61 and a 1 year high of $87.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $1.82. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. NRG Energy had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.87%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 23.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NRG Energy from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NRG Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.