Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 35,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 383,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,995,000 after purchasing an additional 6,325 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,701,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $162,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.93.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $71.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $146.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.94. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $78.53.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

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.