American Trust Lowers Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

American Trust reduced its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,791 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&G Plc purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at $303,065,000. Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 8,447.5% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,735,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,807,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,200 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 400.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,812,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,500 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 57.0% during 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. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,953,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at $7,697. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $85.29 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.74. The company has a market cap of $175.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $85.75.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Dbs Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.33.

NextEra Energy Company 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.