Apella Capital LLC Raises Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 27.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,508,155,000 after acquiring an additional 143,748 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 valued at $579,097,000 after purchasing an additional 691,341 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,961,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $443,834,000 after buying an additional 1,268,900 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $431,966,000 after buying an additional 409,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,981,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,568,000 after acquiring an additional 388,149 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.85. 8,341,913 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,873,457. The company has a market cap of $172.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.07. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly 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. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,697. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.