Vicus Capital Sells 3,221 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Vicus Capital lessened its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 43.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,221 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $2,774,845,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 66,613.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,263,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,530,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,452 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth about $141,817,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $64.30 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.89 and a 200 day moving average of $58.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $131.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.36.

NextEra Energy 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.