Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Increases Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 30.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,155 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,717,758,000 after buying an additional 2,090,538 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,129,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359,268 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,655,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,921,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $926,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. Erste Group Bank cut NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE NEE traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $75.91. The stock had a trading volume of 7,985,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,033,274. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The stock has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.02%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other 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 value of $1,657,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 196,817 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,190. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.