Polaris Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Polaris Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 372,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,975 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for 1.8% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $28,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 3.8% during the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Fingerlakes Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.8% during the third quarter. Fingerlakes Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 48,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,646,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 15,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 145,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total transaction of $12,178,697.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 162,693 shares in the company, valued at $13,651,569.63. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group set a $91.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays set a $88.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.72.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.5%

NextEra Energy stock opened at $81.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.55. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $87.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.97.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.09. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 24.72%.The company had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

NextEra Energy Profile

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.