Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 100,038 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,011,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 100,038 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for 1.5% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $122,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Field & Main Bank grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 22,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 116,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,047,000 after buying an additional 14,549 shares during the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 49,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $506,000. Finally, Investment House LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 21,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $67.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,663,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,773,278. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $78.53. The company has a market capitalization of $138.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.25.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Company 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.