NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Shares Bought by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in 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 NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 acquired a new stake in NRG Energy in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NRG opened at $107.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.30. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.42 and a 12 month high of $115.38.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,454 shares in the company, valued at $6,780,794.02. This represents a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 trade represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NRG. Citigroup upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.43.

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.