Augustine Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in NRG Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,481,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in NRG Energy by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in NRG Energy by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 1,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NRG stock opened at $104.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.15. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.26 and a fifty-two week high of $115.38. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.