Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Decreases Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 965,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 287,154 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $68,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 197.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock opened at $84.54 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.39. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $85.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The firm had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.07.

NextEra Energy 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.