Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires Shares of 5,500 NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Somerset Trust Co boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 5.2% in the first quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 89,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,445 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter worth about $783,000. Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $35,091,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted 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 valued at $27,335,000 after buying an additional 8,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 5,949 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. HSBC lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 196,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,777,190. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,805. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NEE stock traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.99. The stock had a trading volume of 11,163,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,179,099. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.67. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $72.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.42.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.02%.

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.