Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 409,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,414 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $29,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,717,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,571,650,000 after acquiring an additional 820,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,041,210,000 after acquiring an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,630,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $977,191,000 after acquiring an additional 345,999 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 49.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,008,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $70.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.27. The company has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.31 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

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.