Eastern Bank Raises Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 923,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,442 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for about 1.2% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $66,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 219.1% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 44.0% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 13,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 4,051 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,925.1% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 347,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,633,000 after acquiring an additional 330,698 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 24.4% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 50,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,579,000 after acquiring an additional 9,926 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 8.9% during the second quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.15.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NextEra Energy stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $66.86. 12,034,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,829,642. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $137.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $53.95 and a one year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The firm had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 60.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,401.44. The trade was a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.