Westpac Banking Corp Buys 25,513 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in NextEra Energy, acquiring an additional 25,513 shares, bringing its total to 54,797 shares valued at approximately $3.89 million.
• Recent insider transactions include EVP Robert Coffey selling 7,500 shares and Treasurer James Michael May selling 2,177 shares, decreasing their ownership in the company.
• NextEra Energy will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share on September 15th, representing an annualized dividend of $2.27 and a yield of 3.1%.

Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 87.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,513 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 49,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares during the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 80,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,770,000 after purchasing an additional 10,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Seven 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, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.42.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $0.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $72.30. 6,779,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,860,774. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.59. The firm has a market cap of $148.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.63. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.72 and a 1-year 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.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. NextEra Energy's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.02%.

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.