Investors Purchase High Volume of NextEra Energy Call Options (NYSE:NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 217,413 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 941% compared to the average volume of 20,894 call options.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NEE stock traded down $3.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $91.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,009,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,727,543. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.42. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $95.91.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $87.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,073,290. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total transaction of $8,898,532.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,332,054.22. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEE. TD Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 3,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. BDFS Capital LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $451,000. Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 122,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,821,000 after acquiring an additional 38,512 shares in the last quarter. Tempo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $2,616,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.