Trust Co. of Vermont Buys 10,444 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 399,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,444 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy makes up approximately 1.3% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $30,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 33.5% during the first quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 7,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 12.4% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 130,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after acquiring an additional 14,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 571.8% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays set a $88.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. New Street Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total transaction of $63,365.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,098.30. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $906,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $13,398,480. This trade represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 157,322 shares of company stock worth $13,148,943. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.7%

NEE stock opened at $80.08 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.11. The stock has a market cap of $166.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $87.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.09. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.72% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The company had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.29%.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.