Cerity Partners LLC Has $88.28 Million Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,184,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 76,698 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $88,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 7.2 %

Shares of NEE opened at $66.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $137.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.31 and a fifty-two 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $70.65 and a 200 day moving average of $74.59.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NEE. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.