Welch Group LLC Grows Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Welch Group LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 850,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,826 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy makes up about 2.5% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $59,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 335.0% during the first quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 237.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $906,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,398,480. The trade was a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $63,365.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,098.30. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $2,446,490. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock opened at $83.30 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $171.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.00.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Melius Research raised NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.08.

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.