Members Trust Co Increases Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Members Trust Co lifted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 19.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the quarter. Members Trust Co’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,697,086,000 after buying an additional 2,025,193 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in 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. raised its stake 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 valued at $1,507,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,259 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $1,221,896,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,165,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,815,629 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. New Street Research set a $84.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays set a $87.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $92.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $707,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 62,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,510.56. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total transaction of $63,365.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 30,528 shares of company stock valued at $2,277,773 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NEE stock opened at $83.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.66. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.72 and a one year high of $86.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th were 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 was Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

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.