Gradient Investments LLC Has $30.60 Million Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 33,858 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $30,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $2,561,055,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the first quarter worth about $303,065,000. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 8,447.5% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,735,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 400.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,812,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $114,953,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NEE. Barclays increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. 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 report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.57. The stock had a trading volume of 6,344,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,400,159. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $80.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $161.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.93.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion during 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

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.