Busey Bank Trims Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Busey Bank reduced its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. by 6.2% in Q2, holding 54,818 shares valued at approximately $3.81 million.
• Several institutional investors, including North Wealth Services and Nova Wealth Management, have recently established new positions in NextEra Energy, suggesting growing interest in the company.
• NextEra Energy's stock is rated with a consensus target price of $84.00, with various analysts giving ratings from "Buy" to "Overweight" since recent earnings showed a profit of $1.05 per share.

Busey Bank decreased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,818 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,604 shares during the period. Busey Bank's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Copia Wealth Management bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 335.0% in the first quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 509 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.04. 14,817,505 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,260,582. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.07. The company has a market capitalization of $146.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. NextEra Energy's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In related news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 62,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,510.56. This trade represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,523 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,245. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NEE. Melius Research raised shares of NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Mizuho set a $78.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.00.

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.