NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Short Interest Update

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,300,000 shares, a decrease of 29.3% from the January 15th total of 8,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NRG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 32,962.3% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,521 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,749,000 after purchasing an additional 815,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 904,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,583,000 after purchasing an additional 703,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.43.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

NRG Energy stock traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.64. 1,661,040 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,078,556. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.15. NRG Energy has a fifty-two week low of $51.42 and a fifty-two week high of $115.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.54.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.22%.

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.