Montecito Bank & Trust Buys 1,211 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Montecito Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,508,155,000 after acquiring an additional 143,748 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,097,000 after buying an additional 691,341 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,809,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $575,573,000 after buying an additional 851,873 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,966,000 after buying an additional 409,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in NextEra Energy by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,981,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,568,000 after acquiring an additional 388,149 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $74.52 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $153.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.57. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The company had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Dbs Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.54.

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.