First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 7,995 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,995 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,343,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,267,000 after buying an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,657,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 196,817 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:NEE traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.20. 1,118,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,067,474. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.49 and a 200 day moving average of $70.54. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 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 $150.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.68.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

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 $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NEE. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.50.

NextEra Energy Company 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.