Wesbanco Bank Inc. Raises Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 330,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,255 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $22,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Modus Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.1% during the second quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 21,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,468,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 15.4% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 54,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,757,000 after buying an additional 7,207 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.0% during the second quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 8,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter worth about $653,000. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter worth about $221,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 62,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,510.56. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,677 shares of company stock valued at $1,415,418 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NEE stock opened at $71.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $147.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65. 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 fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.06.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Melius Research raised shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.00.

NextEra Energy 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.