Northwest Bancshares Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. cut its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,508,155,000 after purchasing an additional 143,748 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,097,000 after buying an additional 691,341 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,809,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $575,573,000 after buying an additional 851,873 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $431,966,000 after buying an additional 409,708 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,401.44. The trade was a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $77.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.65. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.57.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The business had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.54.

NextEra Energy 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.