Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $1.18 Million Stock Position in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 34.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,094 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in NRG Energy were worth $1,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 1,010.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,557,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $140,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,057 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NRG Energy by 32,962.3% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,052,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $95,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,521 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in NRG Energy by 352.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 804,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,317,000 after acquiring an additional 627,121 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in NRG Energy by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,330,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $121,227,000 after acquiring an additional 456,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in NRG Energy by 109.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 746,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,051,000 after acquiring an additional 389,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.72% of the company's stock.

NRG Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NRG traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.96. 1,229,209 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,078,556. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.26 and a 52 week high of $115.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $98.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.32. The firm has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.15.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. NRG Energy's payout ratio is presently 44.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NRG Energy news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,780,794.02. The trade was a 22.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Gaudette sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.41, for a total transaction 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NRG. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NRG Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on NRG Energy from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded NRG Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on NRG Energy from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NRG Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.43.

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.