B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Cuts Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lowered its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 110,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 57,130 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $7,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $477,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $690,000. Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $538,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 412.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 284,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,047,000 after purchasing an additional 228,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $70.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.99. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.31 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $145.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NEE. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.