NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Shares Down 0.6%

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) was down 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $84.49 and last traded at $84.78. Approximately 1,353,414 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 10,868,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NEE shares. Dbs Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.33.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 3.08 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.07 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,697. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEE. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 132,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,075,000 after buying an additional 14,402 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 228,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,903,000 after buying an additional 22,642 shares during the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 139.0% during the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 11,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 6,617 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 22,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,232,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,876,000 after purchasing an additional 80,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.