Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 5,481 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,481 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho set a $90.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Seaport Research Partners cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total transaction of $458,862.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,572,165. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $27,332,054.22. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $94.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $92.01 and its 200 day moving average is $85.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $196.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 0.74. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.64 and a fifty-two week high of $96.21.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 75.68%.

About NextEra Energy

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.