Quantum Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Quantum Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 4,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $743,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $625,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth $317,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth $313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total transaction of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NRG traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.52. 3,125,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,513,555. The stock has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.66 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.52 and a 1 year high of $76.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. NRG Energy had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.70%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -152.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NRG. TheStreet raised NRG Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.50.

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.