6,056 Shares in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Bought by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,057 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,346,000. Appaloosa LP increased its stake in NRG Energy by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 1,815,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,749,000 after purchasing an additional 815,180 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 350.4% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the fourth quarter worth $61,679,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE:NRG opened at $98.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.11 and a twelve month high of $117.26. The company has a market cap of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.04.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NRG. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

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.