HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 11,920 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,920 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $3,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 414.9% during 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 boosted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 221.0% during 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 institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NRG has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.29.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $99.70 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.76. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.11 and a 12 month high of $117.26. The company has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is currently 35.92%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total value of $5,484,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.