True North Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC reduced its stake in NextEra Energy by 18.2% during the first quarter, now holding 34,397 shares worth approximately $2.44 million.
• NextEra Energy's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations with $1.05 EPS, and the company announced a dividend of $0.5665 per share to be paid in September.
• Several institutional investors, including Charles Schwab and GAMMA Investing, significantly increased their positions in NextEra Energy, indicating strong interest in the stock.

True North Advisors LLC lessened its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 18.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,663 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NEE. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,269,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,165,748,000 after buying an additional 2,815,629 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 8,456.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,458,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $174,286,000 after buying an additional 2,429,804 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,655,353,000 after buying an additional 2,030,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,697,086,000 after buying an additional 2,025,193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $72.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.55. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%. NextEra Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. HSBC cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NEE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.