Rational Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in NRG Energy by 74.7% in the third 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. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the third quarter worth $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.43.

Insider Activity at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,952,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:NRG opened at $107.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.15. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.42 and a twelve month high of $115.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.22%.

About NRG Energy

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.