Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 11,945 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,945 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $10,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 296.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 535,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,236,000 after purchasing an additional 400,582 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 39.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 164,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,529,000 after acquiring an additional 46,541 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 10.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 272,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,415,000 after acquiring an additional 25,216 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $655,000. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $78.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $161.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.80. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The business had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 60.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price 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. Eight investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.85.

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.