Prudential PLC Cuts Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Prudential PLC trimmed its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 39.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 94,611 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $10,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Copia Wealth Management bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 237.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NEE stock opened at $71.88 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.62 and its 200 day moving average is $70.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.63.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.37%.

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.