NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Sold by Smith Anglin Financial LLC

Smith Anglin Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 46.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,181 shares during the quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 63.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 880,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,491,000 after purchasing an additional 341,607 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $6,491,000. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.46.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $0.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.21. The stock had a trading volume of 739,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,848,787. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.62. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $79.78. The stock has a market cap of $127.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

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.