Merriman Wealth Management LLC Invests $206,000 in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Merriman Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,097,000 after buying an additional 691,341 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,961,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $443,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,900 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,631,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,774,000 after acquiring an additional 629,032 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,966,000 after purchasing an additional 409,708 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,981,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $423,568,000 after purchasing an additional 388,149 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at $7,697. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

NextEra Energy stock opened at $82.76 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $85.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $170.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.56.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.87.

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.