Liberty Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Liberty Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% during the second quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 197,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,730,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 244.9% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,301,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,337,000 after purchasing an additional 924,003 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.1% during the second quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 10,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 62,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,084,000 after buying an additional 16,981 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NEE shares. Melius Research raised shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. HSBC cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $78.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were 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. 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 at this link. Also, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 62,064 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,510.56. This trade represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,369 shares of company stock worth $1,539,610. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $75.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.12. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a market cap of $155.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 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.