Smith Salley Wealth Management Buys 13,187 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 350,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,187 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for 1.4% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $26,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,777,923,000 after purchasing an additional 5,554,603 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,724,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,161,774,000 after purchasing an additional 526,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $2,375,545,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,786,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,165,896,000 after purchasing an additional 340,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,414,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,139,467,000 after purchasing an additional 408,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NEE. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Monday. HSBC boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Argus set a $90.00 price target on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 145,140 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total transaction of $12,178,697.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 162,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,651,569.63. The trade was a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $906,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,398,480. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock opened at $80.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.41. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $87.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

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

NextEra Energy Profile

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.