Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 228,973 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 412.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 228,973 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $24,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $538,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $690,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $174,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at about $24,809,000. Finally, Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth about $490,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NEE. Barclays lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $78.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.32 and its 200 day moving average is $77.85. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.41.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.95%.

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.