Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 60,004 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC decreased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 75.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 60,004 shares during the quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,777,923,000 after acquiring an additional 5,554,603 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,724,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,161,774,000 after purchasing an additional 526,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,375,545,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,786,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,165,896,000 after purchasing an additional 340,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,414,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,139,467,000 after buying an additional 408,198 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE opened at $90.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $189.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.81. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $91.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 145,140 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total transaction of $12,178,697.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 162,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,651,569.63. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total value of $8,898,532.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares in the company, valued at $27,332,054.22. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 304,189 shares of company stock valued at $26,373,239. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 target price on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $87.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.95.

NextEra Energy Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.