Viking Fund Management LLC Buys 10,000 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Viking Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $2,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,399,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,225,000 after purchasing an additional 313,478 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,820,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,948,000 after buying an additional 24,834 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $242,639,000 after buying an additional 182,481 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,504,000 after buying an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in NRG Energy by 52.2% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 456,573 shares during the last quarter. 97.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.43.

NRG Energy Stock Up 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $111.57 on Wednesday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.26 and a 1 year high of $112.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.92. The company has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.63, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.