Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Has $579,000 Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,777,923,000 after acquiring an additional 5,554,603 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,724,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,161,774,000 after purchasing an additional 526,996 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,353,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,655,512,000 after purchasing an additional 262,819 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 6.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,269,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,507,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,259 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 58.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,896,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352,798 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 62,064 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,510.56. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $906,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,398,480. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 168,168 shares of company stock worth $13,917,670 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NEE. Argus set a $90.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Melius Research upgraded shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.53.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $83.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $173.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.69. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $87.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.21.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.