Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 35,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 8,949 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $77,000. United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 21,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 729,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,312,000 after purchasing an additional 69,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $474,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,697. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:NEE traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.57. 6,344,213 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,400,159. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $80.56. The company has a market capitalization of $161.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on NEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.36.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.