Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases New Holdings in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NRG. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in NRG Energy by 14.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 288,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,537,000 after purchasing an additional 7,880 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of NRG Energy by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 259,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,591,000 after buying an additional 43,580 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $170,000. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in NRG Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 97.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NRG. Guggenheim increased their price target on NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NRG Energy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NRG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,151,688. This trade represents a 38.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

NRG Energy stock opened at $91.64 on Friday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.90 and a twelve month high of $102.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.19 and a 200-day moving average of $82.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.10.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.95%.

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.