Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 13%, acquiring an additional 443,202 shares, making their total ownership approximately 3.86 million shares valued at $273.96 million.
• Multiple analysts have downgraded their price targets for NextEra Energy, with UBS lowering it from $94 to $84, indicating a shift in market sentiment despite an overall consensus of a "Moderate Buy" rating.
• NextEra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665, which will yield approximately 3.2% annually, as part of its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,864,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 443,202 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of NextEra Energy worth $273,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in NextEra Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 89,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $783,000. Viking Fund Management LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 67.8% during the 1st quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 495,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,091,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 385,592 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,335,000 after buying an additional 8,472 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 5,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NEE traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.42. The company had a trading volume of 5,575,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,816,330. The company has a market capitalization of $149.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.63. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.55.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on NEE shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. HSBC lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.42.

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.