Northstar Asset Management LLC Has $1.24 Million Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Northstar Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Northstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 32,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 15,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE traded down $0.86 on Friday, reaching $63.08. The company had a trading volume of 9,039,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,494,934. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.15 and a fifty-two week high of $79.78. The stock has a market cap of $129.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.19 and its 200 day moving average is $58.34. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.06%.

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.