NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,474 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho set a $90.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.72.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NEE opened at $92.95 on Thursday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $95.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.72. The company has a market capitalization of $193.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.74.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.6232 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 7,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.27, for a total value of $646,423.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 26,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,411,924.13. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,816 shares of company stock worth $17,075,619. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About NextEra Energy

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.