Empowered Funds LLC Increases Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 8.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 1,216,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,495,000 after purchasing an additional 26,270 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 10.6% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 79,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,112,000 after buying an additional 7,677 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,224.3% during the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 72,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,130,000 after buying an additional 66,982 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in NextEra Energy by 57.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,831,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 16.0% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 59,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,042,000 after acquiring an additional 8,184 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $76.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.33. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average of $77.60. The firm has a market cap of $157.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.57.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $302,808.99. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,401.44. The trade was a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NEE. Dbs Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.54.

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.