Moran Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NRG Energy from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.29.

NRG Energy Trading Up 4.3 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $92.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.14 and a fifty-two week high of $117.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $102.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,191.68. This trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.86% 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.