Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Purchases 17,500 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 16.4%, acquiring an additional 17,500 shares and bringing its total position to 124,500 shares worth approximately $8.83 million.
• NextEra Energy's recent quarterly earnings surpassed analyst expectations with $1.05 EPS, but its revenue of $6.70 billion fell short of projections of $7.52 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 79.37%.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 16.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 17,500 shares during the period. NextEra Energy makes up 2.1% of Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $8,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 266,764 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,911,000 after acquiring an additional 10,714 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $689,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 97.3% during the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 83,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,954,000 after buying an additional 41,424 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 55.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,300,839 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $374,639,000 after buying an additional 1,886,999 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 58.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,221,896,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352,798 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of NextEra Energy 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.42.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 4.4%

NEE traded up $3.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.40. 23,396,505 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,521,072. 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 market cap of $155.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.61. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.