ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.50 Million Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,113 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 506,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,162,000 after purchasing an additional 8,565 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 25,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,779,000 after buying an additional 7,401 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $783,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 503,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,932,000 after buying an additional 30,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 13,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:NEE opened at $80.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.99 and its 200 day moving average is $71.28. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $86.00.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 62,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,510.56. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,369 shares of company stock worth $1,539,610. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NEE. Barclays boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. HSBC cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho set a $78.00 target price on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Company 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.