Colonial River Investments LLC Cuts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Colonial River Investments LLC decreased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after buying an additional 5,831 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after buying an additional 21,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after buying an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $70.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.50. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.85.

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.