Northcape Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,820 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,714,000 after buying an additional 8,893 shares during the period. Firestone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Firestone Capital Management now owns 40,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,486,000 after buying an additional 3,353 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 86.3% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 30,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 14,059 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 10,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 22,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE traded down $0.44 on Tuesday, hitting $66.99. 10,042,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,865,637. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.05 and a 200-day moving average of $59.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.13%.

NextEra Energy Company 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.