Aberdeen Group plc Has $165.27 Million Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,338,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 332,311 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $165,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 58.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,896,000 after buying an additional 6,352,798 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $240,269,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,748,000 after buying an additional 2,815,629 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 8,456.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,458,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,286,000 after buying an additional 2,429,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,655,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,331 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $72.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. HSBC reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.42.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.