Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,179 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 414.9% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in NRG Energy by 221.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NRG opened at $100.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.08. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.11 and a twelve month high of $117.26. The company has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.92%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.29.

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.