Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Boosts Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $3,484,197,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $244,169,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $240,269,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 7,910,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,064,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $578,164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499,011 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,657,880.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.73.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $74.35 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.20. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.02%.

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.