Aberdeen Group plc Sells 70,009 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Aberdeen Group plc lowered its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,530,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 70,009 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.12% of NextEra Energy worth $203,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.8% during the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 6,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Fingerlakes Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Fingerlakes Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. now owns 12,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $90.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.72.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,934 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $458,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,165. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 7,161 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the treasurer owned 26,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,411,924.13. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 190,816 shares of company stock worth $17,075,619 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $93.22 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $194.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.18 and its 200 day moving average is $84.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

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

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.