Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $6.52 Million Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,145 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $6,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,508,155,000 after purchasing an additional 143,748 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,097,000 after buying an additional 691,341 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,809,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $575,573,000 after acquiring an additional 851,873 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,966,000 after purchasing an additional 409,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,981,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,568,000 after buying an additional 388,149 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Dbs Bank cut NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.54.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE traded down $0.28 on Thursday, hitting $73.96. The stock had a trading volume of 344,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,882,831. The company has a market capitalization of $152.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.57. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.70 and a 200-day moving average of $77.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.41.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 60.95%.

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.