Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 49.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 521,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 507,670 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $36,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Copia Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 237.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NEE. UBS Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.42.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.41 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,906,561.76. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,361 shares of company stock worth $2,365,398. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.