Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Decreases Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 129,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,881 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $9,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth $25,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 200.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $106.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. HSBC boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,675,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,870. This represents a 65.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 159,049 shares of company stock valued at $14,194,542. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $95.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $95.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.42.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.6232 dividend. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.00%.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.