Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. by 13.1%, owning 96,158 shares after selling 14,522 shares during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds have changed their positions in NextEra Energy, with 78.72% of the stock owned by institutional investors, indicating strong interest in the company.
• NextEra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, yielding approximately 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 79.37%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,522 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $6,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NEE. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 237.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. 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 note on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 196,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,190. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,361 shares of company stock worth $2,365,398. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.59 on Thursday. 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 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.63. The company's fifty day moving average price is $72.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.52.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 79.37%.

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.

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