Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,910 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $34,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Amundi grew its position in NextEra Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $94.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.64 and a 12 month high of $96.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.57. The stock has a market cap of $197.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74 and a beta of 0.74.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS 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 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 business posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.6232 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.68%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. The trade was a 15.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,675,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,870. This represents a 65.88% 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 190,816 shares of company stock worth $17,075,619. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $106.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.94.

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.