4,269 Shares in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Purchased by Essex LLC

Essex LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Somerset Trust Co grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 5.2% during the first quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 89,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 67.8% in the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 495,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,091,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 385,592 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,335,000 after purchasing an additional 8,472 shares in the last quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 5,949 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $70.96 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.99 and a 200-day moving average of $70.12. The stock has a market cap of $146.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.68.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $1,657,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 196,817 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,190. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NEE. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.55.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.

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