Davidson Trust Co. Sells 1,656 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Davidson Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,656 shares during the quarter. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.8% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 9,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 32,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 11.2% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 15,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the first quarter worth $793,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.54. 3,995,789 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,743,287. The company has a market cap of $132.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $79.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.73 and a 200 day moving average of $58.43.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. StockNews.com cut NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays started coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.36.

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.