NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) traded down 2.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $82.02 and last traded at $82.29. 2,424,245 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 10,840,981 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.87.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.95.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 11.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,697. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 35.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,411,000 after buying an additional 26,382 shares during the period. Camden National Bank raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 156,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,514,000 after acquiring an additional 14,477 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 79,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,112,000 after purchasing an additional 7,677 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 57.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,437 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.