Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 43.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,753 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 15,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $91.68 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $95.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.55 and a 200-day moving average of $80.72. The company has a market capitalization of $191.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.60.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,675,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,870. This represents a 65.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 159,049 shares of company stock valued at $14,194,542 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. HSBC lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Argus set a $92.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.95.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.