Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Sells 360 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lowered its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 111,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $8,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $331,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $144.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.44 and a 200-day moving average of $76.32.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.