abrdn plc Boosts Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,242 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $9,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,225,000 after buying an additional 313,478 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,820,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,948,000 after purchasing an additional 24,834 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 7.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,663,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,639,000 after purchasing an additional 182,481 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,057 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in NRG Energy by 52.2% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,227,000 after purchasing an additional 456,573 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NRG. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.43.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $102.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.26 and a twelve month high of $115.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.22.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 44.22%.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. The trade was a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.