Wills Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Wills Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Wills Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on NEE shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Erste Group Bank raised NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $66.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.41 and a 200-day moving average of $72.73.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.