Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.9%, now owning approximately 263,720 shares valued at $18.7 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., increased their stakes in NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter, reflecting growing confidence in the company.
• NextEra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, with a yield of 3.1%, scheduled to be paid on September 15th to shareholders of record on August 28th.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 263,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,027 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $18,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,028,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 236,242 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,936,000 after buying an additional 7,022 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,051,000. Finally, BOKF NA boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 108,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,296,000 after buying an additional 7,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho set a $78.00 price target on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Melius Research upgraded NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. HSBC cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.00.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:NEE traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $69.71. 4,318,504 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,730,938. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.07. The firm has a market cap of $143.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.65.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

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.