Bailard Inc. Sells 15,323 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,323 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $66.76. The company had a trading volume of 7,548,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,884,386. The firm has a market cap of $137.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $78.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.515 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NEE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.50.

NextEra Energy 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.