MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 67.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,109 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 414.9% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 221.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NRG. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NRG Energy from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.75.

NRG Energy Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:NRG opened at $159.63 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $108.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.07. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.11 and a 52 week high of $161.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.00.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $1.90. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 48.96% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 28.39%.

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.