NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 537 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after acquiring an additional 21,400 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,964,000 after acquiring an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $70.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $144.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.31.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

NextEra Energy Company 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.