Westpac Banking Corp Grows Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 57.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 68,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,181 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $5,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its position in NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 15,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE NEE opened at $95.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $198.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $95.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.60.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Argus set a $92.00 target price on NextEra Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. HSBC raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $87.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.05.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total value of $8,898,532.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,332,054.22. This represents a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,073,290. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.