US Bancorp DE Trims Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,880,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 33,994 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.14% of NextEra Energy worth $217,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $2,375,545,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,777,923,000 after buying an additional 5,554,603 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,765.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,968,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,567,000 after buying an additional 3,755,563 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 10,796,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $749,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 181.9% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,185,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $95.13 on Thursday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.72 and a 1-year high of $95.91. The firm has a market cap of $198.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.59 and a 200-day moving average of $81.42.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on NEE shares. UBS Group set a $91.00 target price on NextEra Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seaport Research Partners reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,073,290. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total transaction of $8,898,532.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares in the company, valued at $27,332,054.22. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.