Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Decreases Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 19.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,045,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 246,086 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $72,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.9% during the second quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 15,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 6,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 33,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,355,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 9,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $77.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Melius assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.53.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NEE stock opened at $83.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.45. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.72 and a 1-year high of $87.53. The firm has a market cap of $174.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.69.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.09. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.72% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The firm had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 71.97%.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $906,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,398,480. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,098.30. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,028 shares of company stock worth $1,738,973. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.