EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 18,723 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,038,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,723 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of NextEra Energy worth $74,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,267,000 after buying an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,714,000 after purchasing an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,964,000 after buying an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,312,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,015,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NextEra Energy stock traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.37. 17,324,949 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,768,414. 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 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.73 and a 200 day moving average of $71.64. The company has a market capitalization of $144.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. NextEra Energy's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.46.

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.