Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 8,965 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,965 shares during the period. NextEra Energy comprises about 2.0% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $5,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $202,000. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 34,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 254.9% during the first quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 12,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NEE. Barclays set a $88.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. New Street Research set a $84.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.56.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $79.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $87.53. The company has a market cap of $165.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.74.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 24.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $906,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,398,480. The trade was a 6.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 145,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total transaction of $12,178,697.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 162,693 shares in the company, valued at $13,651,569.63. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 157,322 shares of company stock worth $13,148,943. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.