Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 8.3% in Q4 to 542,500 shares (about $43.55M), making NEE its 21st-largest holding and 1.3% of the firm's portfolio.
• Company insiders sold 190,816 shares worth roughly $17.08M over the last quarter (including EVP Nicole Daggs and EVP Charles Sieving), leaving insiders with just 0.20% ownership.
• NextEra boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.6232 (annualized $2.49, ~2.7% yield), and analysts maintain a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $94.72 target price.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 542,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,703 shares during the period. NextEra Energy accounts for 1.3% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $43,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the second quarter worth about $31,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,934 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total transaction of $458,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,165. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NEE. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Argus set a $92.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.72.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $92.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm's 50-day moving average is $91.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.29. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $95.91. The company has a market capitalization of $193.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. NextEra Energy's quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.68%.

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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