City Holding Co. Raises Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

City Holding Co. raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,888 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $5,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 24.8% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 64,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after purchasing an additional 12,738 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.0% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 326,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,624,000 after purchasing an additional 15,600 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,845,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,783,000 after purchasing an additional 60,324 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 286.0% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 61.8% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 60,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 23,288 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $94.22 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.64 and a 1 year high of $96.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $92.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.72. The firm has a market cap of $196.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.60.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 75.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Mizuho set a $90.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.94.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,073,290. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $646,423.47. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.