Aberdeen Group plc Has $165.27 Million Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in NextEra Energy by 12.4%, owning 2,338,297 shares valued at approximately $165.27 million as per its latest SEC filing.
• Insider trading activity included Treasurer James Michael May selling 2,177 shares and EVP Robert Coffey selling 7,500 shares, both representing significant decreases in their ownership.
• NextEra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, with a current yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 79.37%.

Aberdeen Group plc lowered its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,338,297 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 332,311 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.11% of NextEra Energy worth $165,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 237.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NEE. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.42.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $0.8220 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.5420. The stock had a trading volume of 7,651,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,899,603. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.72 and a one year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $157.62 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $72.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.63.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy 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.