Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 780 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 780 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the fourth 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 bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $72.86 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.31 and a 52-week high of $86.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $149.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.07.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a positive change 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 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

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.