Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 11,566 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC sold 11,566 shares of NextEra Energy, Inc., reducing its holdings by 39% and leaving it with 18,104 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million.
• NextEra Energy reported earnings of $1.05 per share for the last quarter, beating expectations, while its revenue reached $6.70 billion, which was below analyst estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665, with a payout ratio of 79.37% and an annual yield of 2.8%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 39.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,104 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,566 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,697,086,000 after buying an additional 2,025,193 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,353,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,655,512,000 after acquiring an additional 262,819 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,269,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,507,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,259 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 58.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,221,896,000 after acquiring an additional 6,352,798 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,165,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,815,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $80.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.00.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,369 shares of company stock worth $1,539,610. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on NEE. Barclays lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Melius Research upgraded NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, HSBC cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.08.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NEE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.