Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 401,500 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 822,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 401,500 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $58,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

NextEra Energy stock opened at $67.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $138.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.92.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

About NextEra Energy

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.