Advisory Alpha LLC Sells 6,577 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Advisory Alpha LLC cut its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 42.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,809 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,577 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,717,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,538 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,129,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359,268 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,655,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030,331 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,041,210,000 after buying an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have 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 research report on Tuesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.50.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.3%

NextEra Energy stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.04. The stock had a trading volume of 11,013,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,113,645. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $68.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.71. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.64%.

About NextEra Energy

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.