NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 460,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 49,559 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $32,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 1,216,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,495,000 after purchasing an additional 26,270 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after acquiring an additional 21,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after acquiring an additional 27,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $68.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.97 and its 200-day moving average is $76.84.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.13%.

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.