NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Sold by Patten Group Inc.

Patten Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,728 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,267,000 after buying an additional 5,831 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,714,000 after acquiring an additional 41,328 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,481,000 after purchasing an additional 21,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $71.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

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.