Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,926,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 38,970 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $173,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in NRG Energy by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in NRG Energy by 100.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:NRG opened at $88.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.05. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $59.50 and a one year high of $117.26. The firm has a market cap of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total value of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NRG shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.