NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Sold by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 923 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in NRG Energy during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 74.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 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 during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,952,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares in the company, 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 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG stock opened at $100.13 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.92. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.96 and a 52 week high of $117.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.92%.

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.