NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Stock Price Up 0.2% After Dividend Announcement

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s share price shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $84.05 and last traded at $83.96. 1,690,151 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 10,753,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.78.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NEE. Dbs Bank lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.64.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $173.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.56.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at $7,697. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 197.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.