Avity Investment Management Inc. Sells 63,834 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Avity Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 443,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 63,834 shares during the period. NextEra Energy makes up 2.5% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $31,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 1,216,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,495,000 after purchasing an additional 26,270 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after purchasing an additional 21,400 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,312,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NEE. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Dbs Bank cut NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.15.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $67.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.79 and its 200-day moving average is $77.26. The stock has a market cap of $139.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.