New England Research & Management Inc. Grows Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 22.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,175 shares during the period. NextEra Energy makes up approximately 1.0% of New England Research & Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 11,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,653,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on NEE. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.50.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $73.23. The company had a trading volume of 5,227,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,060,186. 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 company has a market capitalization of $150.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.68. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.40.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is 84.64%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.