Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 375 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NRG. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 81.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 3,637 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $588,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 39.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 8,960 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of NRG Energy by 47.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 56,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,132,000 after purchasing an additional 18,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $1,081,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 10.1 %

NRG stock opened at $83.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.28. NRG Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $65.11 and a one year high of $117.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 35.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the 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 $6,780,794.02. This trade represents a 22.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NRG. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on NRG Energy from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $86.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of NRG Energy in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $129.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

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.