Country Trust Bank Has $26.84 Million Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Country Trust Bank decreased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 334,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,390 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $26,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 213,799,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,139,726,000 after purchasing an additional 922,500 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,787,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,267,265,000 after purchasing an additional 373,088 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 16.7% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 12,461,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,012,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,881 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,585,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $572,642,000 after purchasing an additional 141,081 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,953,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,903,000 after purchasing an additional 89,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NEE. HSBC raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.72.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,675,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,870. The trade was a 65.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $92.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $193.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $95.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $91.50 and its 200 day moving average is $85.29.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.6232 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 75.68%.

NextEra Energy Company 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.