SouthState Corp Purchases 27,320 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• SouthState Corp increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 12.7% in Q1, acquiring an additional 27,320 shares, bringing its total holdings to 243,155 shares valued at approximately $17.24 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have recently entered positions in NextEra Energy, indicating ongoing institutional interest, with 78.72% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• NextEra Energy's stock has experienced a 0.2% decline, currently trading around $72.42, with a recent quarterly earnings report showing $1.05 EPS, surpassing estimates.

SouthState Corp raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,320 shares during the period. SouthState Corp's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $17,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cim LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 33,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 14,089 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 3,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 22,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on NEE shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.42.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded up $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $72.32. 3,843,972 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,839,658. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.59. The company has a market cap of $148.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.63.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was 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. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% 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.

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.