Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 119,160 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,839,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 119,160 shares during the period. NextEra Energy accounts for about 2.2% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $418,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 167.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,186,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,795,000 after buying an additional 1,369,689 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 13,375.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 946,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,835,000 after buying an additional 939,209 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,571,650,000 after acquiring an additional 820,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,210,000 after acquiring an additional 588,038 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $71.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.25. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.