State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $4,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,126,000 after purchasing an additional 24,062 shares during the period. Luxor Capital Group LP grew its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 47.8% in the third quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 520,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,426,000 after purchasing an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in NRG Energy by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,557,000 after purchasing an additional 10,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii lifted its holdings in NRG Energy by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 15,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 7,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NRG Energy Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $91.07 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.50 and a 1 year high of $117.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.52 and a 200 day moving average of $94.07. The stock has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

NRG Energy 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.