Rathbones Group PLC Sells 12,830 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its stake in NextEra Energy by 3.3% in Q4, selling 12,830 shares and leaving it with 377,738 shares valued at about $30.3 million.
• NextEra reported Q4 EPS of $0.54 (beat by $0.01) and 20.7% revenue growth but missed revenue estimates ($6.50B vs. $7.07B); the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6232 ($2.49 annualized, ~2.7% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers—EVP Charles Sieving sold 30,000 shares and the treasurer sold 7,161, with insiders offloading 190,816 shares (~$17.08M) over 90 days—while institutional investors own about 78.7% of the stock.

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 377,738 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,830 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $30,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,765.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,968,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $299,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755,563 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $177,198,000. Amundi increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 12,461,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,012,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,881 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 181.9% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,185,513 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $88,262,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $93.22 on Monday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $95.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $91.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.74.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is currently 75.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Seaport Research Partners decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Argus set a $92.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 7,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.27, for a total value of $646,423.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer owned 26,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,411,924.13. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 190,816 shares of company stock worth $17,075,619 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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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