Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 137,316 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 137,316 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $67,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in NRG Energy by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % 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, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,780,794.02. This 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 company insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Down 7.7 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $91.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $59.50 and a one year high of $117.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.52 and a 200 day moving average of $94.07.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 35.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NRG. 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 research note on Monday. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

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.