Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $1.51 Billion Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.7% in Q1, owning approximately 21.27 million shares worth about $1.51 billion.
• NextEra Energy's last quarterly earnings beat estimates with an EPS of $1.05, despite revenue falling short of expectations at $6.70 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 79.37%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,269,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,336,259 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 1.03% of NextEra Energy worth $1,507,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 237.7% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,575,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,816,330. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $72.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.55. The company has a market capitalization of $149.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.63. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 79.37%.

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.