NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE Stock Holdings Cut by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 827 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,221,896,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352,798 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,165,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,815,629 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 12,200,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $878,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657,438 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,697,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,300,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $374,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,999 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 62,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,510.56. This trade represents a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the sale, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,369 shares of company stock valued at $1,539,610 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE opened at $78.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.82 and a 200-day moving average of $71.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Melius initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho set a $78.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. HSBC reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.08.

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.