Eastern Bank Buys 443 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 923,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy comprises about 1.3% of Eastern Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $65,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 83,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,914,000 after buying an additional 12,607 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $7,207,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 160.8% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 44,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 27,266 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 152,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,792,000 after buying an additional 36,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. HSBC lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Erste Group Bank cut NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.42.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,657,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 196,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,361 shares of company stock valued at $2,365,398. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $71.96 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.72 and a one year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.14 and its 200 day moving average is $70.47. The firm has a market cap of $148.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.02%.

NextEra Energy Company 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.