Argent Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Argent Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 627,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,120 shares during the period. NextEra Energy accounts for 1.3% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $44,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 46,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,835,000 after acquiring an additional 4,047 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $162,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,411,000 after purchasing an additional 26,382 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 156,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,514,000 after purchasing an additional 14,477 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 379,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,079,000 after purchasing an additional 50,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NEE. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,697. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

NextEra Energy stock traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,052,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,233,079. The stock has a market cap of $163.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $80.56.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

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.