Vest Financial LLC Boosts Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 803,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,678 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $56,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $1,657,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,190. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $71.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $147.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69. 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 50-day moving average price of $68.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.68. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 84.64%.

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.