Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 430,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 58,060 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $26,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Greenfield Savings Bank raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 32,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,957,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Financial boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 8,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded up $1.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $71.26. 14,040,262 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,912,485. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $78.53. The company has a market cap of $146.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NEE. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Company 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.