NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Stock Price Down 0.4%

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s stock price fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $83.01 and last traded at $83.07. 1,492,188 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 10,915,919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho cut NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $172.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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. As a group, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,697. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $2,561,055,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,508,155,000 after purchasing an additional 143,748 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,097,000 after purchasing an additional 691,341 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,961,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $443,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,631,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,774,000 after purchasing an additional 629,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.