Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires 11,038 Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Advisors Preferred LLC raised its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,038 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC's holdings in NRG Energy were worth $5,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in NRG Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $549,000. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in shares of NRG Energy by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 78,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,126,000 after buying an additional 24,062 shares during the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP grew its holdings in NRG Energy by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 520,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,426,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in shares of NRG Energy by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,557,000 after acquiring an additional 10,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii lifted its stake in NRG Energy by 95.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 15,685 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 7,662 shares during the period. 97.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NRG Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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, November 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of NRG Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $126.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of NRG Energy 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 directly owns 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,191.68. This represents a 48.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

NRG stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $104.79. 2,597,343 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,065,552. The company has a market cap of $21.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50-day moving average is $98.70 and its 200-day moving average is $90.66. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.26 and a 12 month high of $115.38. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. NRG Energy's payout ratio is presently 44.22%.

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.