Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $78.85 Million Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,099,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 165,156 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $78,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares during the period. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $275,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 848,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,846,000 after buying an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $251,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $66.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $136.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.15.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.