Loudon Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Loudon Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 42,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,775 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for 1.7% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mairs & Power Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 13,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 12.0% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 260,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,651,000 after acquiring an additional 27,956 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 43.8% during the third quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,857,000 after acquiring an additional 15,571 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 58,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,399,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L2 Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 9,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $92.87 on Tuesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $95.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.6232 dividend. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 7,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.27, for a total transaction of $646,423.47. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 26,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,411,924.13. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NEE. Weiss Ratings cut NextEra Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $106.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.16.

NextEra Energy Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.