Investors Buy Large Volume of NextEra Energy Call Options (NYSE:NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 287,791 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 965% compared to the average daily volume of 27,024 call options.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:NEE traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $84.24. 10,905,558 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,349,816. The firm has a market cap of $175.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.02. NextEra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $87.53. 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 (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.09. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 24.72%.The business had revenue of $7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 71.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 145,140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total value of $12,178,697.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 162,693 shares in the company, valued at $13,651,569.63. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,398,480. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 168,168 shares of company stock worth $13,917,670 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 506,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,162,000 after purchasing an additional 8,565 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 68,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,709,000 after purchasing an additional 5,261 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 171.1% in the second quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 7,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 25,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after buying an additional 7,401 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research upgraded NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, New Street Research set a $84.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a report on Monday, October 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.53.

About NextEra Energy

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.