Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC cut its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the period. NextEra Energy comprises about 1.6% of Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $7,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $240,269,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 8,456.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,458,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429,804 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,655,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030,331 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $124,106,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 361.4% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,188,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714,575 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $71.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.46. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $1,657,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 196,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,190. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,143,805. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on NEE. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.42.

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.