Viking Fund Management LLC Purchases Shares of 20,000 NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 20,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,822,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NRG. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in NRG Energy by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NRG. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.25.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Up 2.5 %

NRG stock traded up $2.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,596,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,348,727. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.25. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.10 and a 52-week high of $96.40.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $1.82. NRG Energy had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 43.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is 17.76%.

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.