Raymond James Trust N.A. Buys 679 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by 21.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in NRG Energy were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 104.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 37,750 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 65.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,596,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,318,000 after acquiring an additional 633,765 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of NRG Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $746,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 169.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 263,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,042,000 after purchasing an additional 165,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc increased its position in NRG Energy by 9.1% in the third quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 79,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $98.89 on Thursday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.23 and a fifty-two week high of $102.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $90.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.37.

NRG Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. NRG Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on NRG shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $77.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NRG Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rasesh M. Patel sold 102,603 shares of NRG Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $8,244,151.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 163,680 shares in the company, valued at $13,151,688. This trade represents a 38.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.