Firestone Capital Management Lowers Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Firestone Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Firestone Capital Management’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on NEE shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $66.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $136.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.50.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. NextEra Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 84.64%.

About NextEra Energy

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.