Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Purchases 14,230 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 8.9%, purchasing an additional 14,230 shares, bringing its total holdings to 173,837 shares valued at approximately $12.3 million.
• NextEra Energy reported $1.05 EPS for the recent quarter, beating expectations, although its revenue of $6.70 billion fell short of consensus estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.0%, with a dividend payout ratio of 79.37%.

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,230 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $12,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HFR Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 128,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Corient IA LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $780,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 555.5% during the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 54,271 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,854,000 after purchasing an additional 45,992 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 38,989 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Somerset Group LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Somerset Group LLC now owns 53,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NEE traded up $0.8220 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.5420. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,046,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,502,599. The company's 50-day moving average is $72.90 and its 200-day moving average is $70.68. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.42.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy 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.