KBC Group NV Has $1.75 Million Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

KBC Group NV reduced its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,074 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,126,000 after acquiring an additional 24,062 shares during the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP increased 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 acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 25.1% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,557,000 after acquiring an additional 10,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 95.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 15,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 7,662 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NRG. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.43.

NRG Energy Stock Down 2.2 %

NRG stock opened at $102.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.26 and a 52-week high of $115.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.15.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other 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 transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.