Rathbones Group PLC Lowers Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in NextEra Energy by 27.5% in Q3, selling 148,130 shares and retaining 390,568 shares valued at about $29.48 million.
• Insiders sold 159,049 shares worth $14.19 million in the last quarter, including CEO John W. Ketchum's sale of 99,603 shares and EVP Ronald R. Reagan's sale of 18,620 shares, materially reducing their ownership.
• NextEra raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6232 ($2.49 annualized, ~2.7% yield) and reported Q results with EPS of $0.54 (beat by $0.01) while revenue of $6.50 billion missed the $7.07 billion consensus.

Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 27.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 390,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 148,130 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $29,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 145,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,062,000 after acquiring an additional 19,803 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 42,738 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,398,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $105,565,000 after purchasing an additional 189,406 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its position in NextEra Energy by 4.4% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,224,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $92,423,000 after purchasing an additional 51,053 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 7.9% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 17,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,675,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $867,870. This trade represents a 65.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total transaction of $8,898,532.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 305,933 shares in the company, valued at $27,332,054.22. This represents a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $91.03 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $87.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.76. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $95.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.60.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NEE. Wall Street Zen upgraded NextEra Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $87.00 target price on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.16.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc NYSE: NEE, headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company's principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra's activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.

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