Banco Santander S.A. Sells 18,860 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 29.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 45,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,860 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $72.86 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.30 and a 200-day moving average of $76.05. The stock has a market cap of $149.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.31 and a 52-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.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (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 research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is 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.