Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 364,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,014 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $25,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,697,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025,193 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,353,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,655,512,000 after acquiring an additional 262,819 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,269,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,507,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,259 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 58.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,896,000 after acquiring an additional 6,352,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,815,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.5%

NEE stock opened at $83.30 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $171.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.66.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.02%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $63,365.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,267 shares in the company, valued at $694,098.30. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $2,446,490. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NEE. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Melius began coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $92.00 price objective on NextEra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.08.

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.