Essex Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 24.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,677 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 15,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,675,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,643 shares in the company, valued at $867,870. This represents a 65.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,049 shares of company stock valued at $14,194,542. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $90.00 price objective on NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.95.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE NEE opened at $92.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $192.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.76. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $95.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.14 and a 200-day moving average of $80.57.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.6232 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.00%.

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.